Kizuna : Bonds of Love
by Laily
Summary: CONCLUSION. Has Shigure become permanently disabled? Is Yuki ever going to forgive himself? Kyo and Yuki ruminate on life with and without Shigure. Will the Sohmas ever be able to find happiness again? All these questions answered in the final chapter!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimers: Standard disclaimers apply.

* * *

"You could have asked!"

"Would you have given it to me if I had?"

"So you decided to just ransack my room and take it without my permission, hoping I wouldn't notice?"

"I didn't ransack your room! And like I said, you've already left for school, what was I supposed to do?"

"I don't care _what_ you were supposed to do! It's your own fault for misplacing your scientific calculator in the first place, and now you've gone and misplaced mine too, baka neko!"

"Yeah, yeah, spoken like a true egomaniac, the hoity toity Prince Yuki, like the true Mr Perfect who never does anything wrong-"

"Spoken like a true coward, twisting people's words around, putting the blame on someone else for his own carelessness and stupidity-"

"That's it!" Kyo slammed a fist into the wall, his eyes blazing with fury. "I'm going to teach you a lesson, and seal that smart-ass mouth of yours once and for all!"

"You put your fists where your mouth is and just try," Yuki sneered. "Would it kill you just to say you're sorry that you've lost something that belongs to someone else?"

Kyo balled his fists. "I didn't lose it! I know exactly where it is! It's in my desk-"

"At school," Yuki finished for him. "How do you expect me to finish my homework now, huh? Mental arithmetic?"

Kyo smirked. "Don't tell me you've forgotten how to count?"

Yuki's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.

"Anou...Yuki-kun..." Tohru called out hesitantly. She was perched on top of the stairs where the two boys were standing, glaring daggers at each other, too caught up in their argument to realize they were blocking the way.

Yuki gave her a tight, apologetic smile. "Later, Honda-san. I'm kind of in the middle of something."

Tohru clasped her hands uncertainly across the front of her body, wringing her fingers anxiously. "Anou...if you need a calculator, I can lend you mine...I'm sure Kyo-kun didn't mean to steal yours...he only borrowed it for a little while-"

Kyo's face burned. "I don't need you to fight my fight for me-"

Yuki's head whipped around. "Leave her out of this." Keeping his eyes on Kyo, he continued. "It's not the borrowing that is bothering me, Honda-san. It's the principle behind it. He had plenty of opportunity to tell me about it at school, but he didn't, did he?"

"Kyo-kun...Yuki-kun..." Shigure poked his head through the door of his study. He pushed his glasses higher up his nose and peered at them with a frown. "If you're going to have a go at it, could you please take it elsewhere, and not do it there? You are awfully close to the stairs, don't you think? See, if you're planning to break your necks falling down, can you do it tomorrow at least? It's getting kind of late."

Yuki lifted a delicate eyebrow. "Does it really matter _where_ we take it? It's the same loser everytime."

"Say that again!" Kyo marched forward, his fists held out in a fighting stance.

"L-O-" Yuki pressed in closer. "-S-E-R."

That's it. That is it.

"Tohru-kun, watch out!" Shigure yelled; he could see what was coming, but it was too late.

On reflex, Kyo's arms had shot out, his fist rushing forward as he launched a punch, but he felt the bony end of his elbow push against something soft instead; and even before the hit landed, he had turned his head to the side, his eyes widening in fear.

"Honda-san!" Yuki had seen Kyo's elbow hit Tohru in the small of her back. He leapt forward, but his fingers barely grazed the tips of Tohru's hair, and he found himself grasping empty air; watching in horror as Tohru lost her footing and started to fall.

And a long, loud scream shattered the silence of the night like breaking glass.

* * *

"Sorry, Ha-san," Shigure bowed his head a little. "I'm really sorry."

Hatori just glanced at him out the corner of one eye. Shigure had sounded so frantic over the phone, very much unlike his usual self that he really thought something serious had happened.

Well...it was serious, but-

He guessed a fall down the stairs would scare the wits out of everyone, even the calmest and most level-headed of people. Not that Shigure was remotely level-headed in any way, but he supposed with Honda-kun near tears with pain, cradling her broken wrist in her lap, it was understandable that all three men of the household were upset.

"No need to apologize. I haven't gone to bed," Hatori said, inspecting Tohru's wrist with an expert hand. "Even if I have, by all means, go ahead and call me anyway." He fingered the base of her thumb lightly, where there was already some swelling and bruising. And from the look on her face, he could tell it was very sore.

"And you two. What did you think you were doing?" Hatori asked sharply. "Honda-kun could have been seriously hurt."

Yuki's jaw clenched, refusing to meet his eyes. Kyo, sitting cross-legged at the far corner of the room, only stared down at his lap.

Shigure knelt down next to Hatori, looking anxious. "Is it broken?"

"Ah..." The Dragon had a strong feeling that it was. A fall onto outstretched hands...especially from such a height...the scaphoid bone in the wrist would almost always be bruised, if not fractured. "She needs to go to the hospital and get an X-ray of her wrist. If we're lucky, it could just be a simple fracture that can be fixed with a cast. Or else an orthopaedic surgeon needs to take a look at it, she might need a minor operation to insert a wire to stabilise the fracture as the bone heals."

Shigure breathed in deeply. Hatori noticed his cousin still had his glasses on; he must have been working when the accident happened.

"I suppose you need me to go with you, Ha-san?" Shigure rose to his full height. "To sign the medical papers and whatnot?"

Hatori nodded. "You are her legal guardian, are you not?"

Shigure nodded, but his eyes were on the two sullen boys sitting so quietly far, far away from everyone. "I'll go get our coats Tohru-kun, and then we can go. We don't want to freeze out in the cold, do we?"

"I'm sorry, Shigure-san..." Tohru whispered tearfully, bowing her head in misery.

"Oh dear..." Shigure just gave her good hand a little pat. "You shouldn't apologize, Tohru-kun...I can assure you, out of everyone in this room, you are the most deserving of an apology." He smiled gently.

"Yuki-kun...Kyo-kun...an early night sounds good, doesn't it? Why don't you two go to your room and get some rest? I think we've all had enough excitement for one night, ne? The last time you didn't listen to me, I assume you two were there to see what had happened?"

Shigure's face was smiling, but his eyes were hard. Hatori had never seen so many question marks strung in just one breath. Anyone who knew Shigure well could see that he meant every word, and that he expected them to obey him this time.

Yuki rose to his feet, but his gaze had settled on the cat who had long since curled up into a tight ball in the corner of the living room. "I hope you're happy now, Kyo. Maybe you can finally see that your presence here brings nothing but pain and penury to everyone who's had the misfortune of ever having known you."

With that, he brushed past Shigure at the door, and stalked out without so much as a word.

"Yuki-kun..." Shigure called his name softly, but Yuki ignored him completely; the dog could only stare at his retreating back as he disappeared up the stairs.

Even Tohru and Hatori had looked up, clearly surprised at what Yuki had said. In panic, Tohru temporarily forgot all about her painful wrist and stared at Kyo's hunched form. She couldn't see his face; he had buried it in his arms. Had he heard every single word? Her heart pounded crazily. Of course he had! How could he have not? She understood why Yuki was angry but still...

"Kyo-kun..." She pulled away from Hatori's grasp and reached out a hand toward the cat, but with an agility natural only to felines, Kyo leapt to his feet and ran soundlessly out onto the open porch, before disappearing in the night. Hatori exchanged knowing glances with Shigure, who could only shake his head in regret.

This is not good, he thought. Not good at all.

"Tohru-kun..."

Tohru's face had gone pale, and she looked as if she was on the verge of tears. Shigure bent down and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Tohru-kun, come. We have to go." He hesitated a little, before adding, "Don't you worry about them. Everything will be alright, you'll see."

He straightened up. "You'll see," he repeated softly, more to himself than to anyone in particular.

"But..." Her voice trailed off, still staring off into the night. She could not believe this was happening.

Hatori nodded. "Shigure's right. Let's go."

"Y-yes." But her eyes were downcast, cloudy; hiding none of the turbulence she was currently feeling inside. Yuki's harsh words played over and over again in her mind. Kyo-kun was so hurt...she could feel it. He must be...the words were not even directed at her but she felt them all the same. And as she let the two older Sohmas lead her toward the car waiting outside, she couldn't help but wonder if things were really going to be alright like Shigure-san had said.

* * *

"Are you comfortable?" Hatori asked. Shigure handed him a small pillow and he tucked it under Tohru's wrist, elevating it to a more comfortable position. She was lucky she only needed a plaster cast; the scaphoid had been merely cracked, and it would heal in a matter of weeks. Just so long as she stayed away from any household chores for the time being.

Tohru nodded and merely smiled. She was already lying in bed, ready to go to sleep. The trip to the emergency room had been quite an exhausting experience, not just for her, but Shigure too. In fact, everything that happened that night had been draining.

"I'm going to leave you with some painkillers. And don't worry, they're quite mild, so they won't make you drowsy." Hatori placed a small bottle filled with round white capsules by her bed.

"Thank you, Hatori-san." But her eyes clouded over. "I didn't mean to be so much trouble, making Hatori-san come all the way here in the middle of the night...I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Honda-kun." Hatori's lips thinned into a rare smile. "Just get some rest. You'll feel much better in the morning."

"Okay." Tohru closed her eyes obediently but Shigure had known her long enough to know that her mind must be whirring like crazy; it was obvious she was still upset, and worried too, and he had a feeling why, and whom she was worried about.

Shigure reached down and patted her head gently, much to Hatori's amusement. It wasn't everyday he got to see his devil-may-care, 'the-world-is-my-oyster' cousin acting all fatherly with any of his charges.

Shigure whispered in her ear. "Shh, don't think about it anymore," he admonished gently. "Bad things happen sometimes. Ne?"

Tohru's lower lip trembled slightly, but her eyes remained closed. She simply nodded.

Satisfied, Shigure straightened up and switched on the bedside lamp. "Good night, Tohru-kun."

"Good night," she whispered softly.

Hatori followed Shigure out the door, and hit the light switch off on the way out. He closed the door behind them carefully, and nearly crashed into Shigure's back. The dog was staring at the other end of the upper hallway, in the general direction of Yuki's room.

Hatori breathed in deeply. "I'll go make us some tea." Shigure nodded absently, letting him pass. But his feet were already moving.

Yuki's light was still on, he noted, noticing the stray ray of fluorescent escaping through the slit of his door. Shigure pulled it open with one hand.

"I hope you've got him packing and ready to leave on the first bus out of here tomorrow."

Shigure kept his arms crossed, wrapping the huge sleeves of his robe tightly around himself. Yuki was sitting at his desk with an open book in front of him, but his eyes weren't moving. He wasn't reading.

"You're not being fair, Yuki-kun."

"What isn't fair is you taking this so lightly." Yuki's grip around his pen tightened. "That stupid cat is lucky Honda-san only hurt her wrist; if it had been worse-"

"What do you think you would have done then, Yuki? Would you have punched his lights out? Beaten him to a pulp till he couldn't fight back?"

Yuki sighed. It was hopeless expecting more from Shigure, he just wasn't that type of person. "Well, someone needs to teach him a lesson. I don't see you doing it."

Shigure's lips tightened, and underneath his yukata, he gripped his elbows with whitening knuckles. "A lesson in discipline is taught through experience and observation, not fists. You of all people should know that. I hope you realize that it could have easily been you who had thrown that first punch instead of Kyo."

Yuki shook his head. "No. Something like this wouldn't have happened if he hadn't been here to begin with. I was against the idea of him living with us in the first place, remember?"

"Ah...but you did provoke him, Yuki," Shigure reminded him gently.

"That is hardly the point. Honda-san could have been seriously hurt tonight, and you act like you don't even care. Defending the stupid cat who started this whole mess in the first place!"

"Tohru-kun is fine, and that's all that matters," Shigure said a little heatedly, quite angered by Yuki's accusations. "Now, if you please, I suggest you two stop all this nonsense and be at least civil too each other. This is not why I brought the two of you into this house. "

"You're all bark, Shigure. You brought us into this house because Akito told you to. "

If Yuki could only look past Shigure's sad, kind smile, he would have caught the sudden clenching of his jaw.

"Yuki-kun...all those years of martial arts training-" Shigure shook his head. "You didn't actually need them. Your words...are far more hurtful."

The boy froze, involuntarily dropping his pen onto the open pages of his book.

With an apologetic bow of his head, Shigure threw the rat one last look before turning his back to leave. "I'll leave you alone."

"Shigu-" Yuki reached out a hand, but his older cousin had already shut the door. "-re." He balled his fist and let it drop with a whack on the table. I didn't-mean-

Yuki sighed, and leaned forward slowly, resting his forehead against the edge of his desk, letting the stray strands of his silver hair prick his cheeks. He had a feeling he should apologize somehow. Was I...over-reacting? What's come over me? I'm not usually like this.

Damn it...

Seeing Honda-san hurt like that...he had felt something inside him snap. And he wasn't sure if he liked it.

* * *

Hatori didn't look up as Shigure took a seat next to him at the kotatsu. With the heel of one hand, he silently pushed Shigure's tea across the table, and a pack of cigarettes with the other.

"Wallpaper."

"Hmm?" Hatori tapped off the ash from the tip of his cigarette against the ashtray.

Eyes downcast, Shigure wrapped his fingers around the mug, letting the warmth of the tea suffuse into his cold hands. A sad smile. "That's all I am to him. Wallpaper."

A long, questioning gaze. No words were needed. He often said it best that way anyway.

"Am I-" Shigure's fingers curled tensely. "Have I been too...easy?"

"Easy?"

"On them?" The lines on Shigure's forehead deepened.

Hatori's eyes narrowed. "What exactly did Yuki say to you?"

His cousin's only answer was a soft, low chuckle. But the sadness in his eyes was something Hatori did not see often.

"He's right about one thing, though," Shigure said finally. "Maybe I should be more...responsible. Somehow."

Hatori frowned, not quite following.

Shigure laughed again, his eyes fixed at the ripples on the surface of his tea. "Less bark. More bite."

The Dragon held his breath. And let it out slowly. Obviously Kyo's not the only who's been hurt by Yuki's sharp tongue tonight, he thought.

"A strict code and punishments...if that's what Yuki means by responsibility, then he should have just stayed at the Main House." Hatori stubbed his smoke out and clasped his fingers in front of him. "This is your house. You run it the way you want to run it."

"Ah...you're not saying I should be a tyrant now, are you, Ha-san?"

"Come now. I know you're only half as stupid as you look," Hatori said. Shigure smirked.

Hatori knew his cousin had been trying. He was there when Shigure first moved into the house, his first step toward independence, adulthood. He was there when Yuki moved in, how having someone else he needed to look after had changed Shigure. The dog might not see it himself. But deep down, Hatori admired him for it; taking care of three teenagers was not the easiest thing in the world, and here was Shigure, the day-dreamer of the family, doing it without complaint.

Well, most of the time, anyway.

The sensei had written and sold more books than most other struggling authors in Japan, and was highly-regarded by many; but what he really wished for, that little something which he couldn't quite describe in words (ironic, really) was missing in his own home.

"There's just...so many things I can't do for them, you know?" Shigure sounded frustrated. "I tried so hard to keep everything together, to not make it fall apart...to make it work...but maybe I'm not doing enough."

Shigure managed a small smile. "Tohru-kun...has been a big help so far. I don't know how she does it, she must have some kind of magic powers or something, but whenever she's around, things get less tense in the house. She makes things bearable."

"And now this." Shigure raked a hand through his unruly black hair and sighed. "I suppose I am partly to blame. I depended on her too much."

"And now I can't even take control...of what Akito-san's entrusted in my hands." Shigure stared dully at the shining lacquer of the table top.

Hatori felt a mild rush of anger wash over him. Whatever Yuki had said, it was affecting his friend hard. Shigure had never been this talkative about himself. But he wasn't going to insult Shigure's intelligence and dignity so as to suggest letting Hatori have a talk with Yuki himself. So he made do with what he always did best.

"Someday they'll realise it, you know. And someday you'll realise it too."

"Realise what?" Shigure asked, unsure if he really wanted to know.

"That they respect you more than they think they do."

Shigure gazed at him steadily.

Hatori lit another stick and took a long, heavy drag. To others, Shigure was a figure of mystery; always smiling on the outside, but never showing his actual feelings and thoughts. To him however, he was an open book. "They depend on you. They might not like it, but they do."

"Most Sohma men are arrogant bastards, so I doubt you'll ever get a thank-you-" Hatori drawled. "But...seeing them healthy, and happy, and well, knowing that you've done a good job looking after them, that's thank-you enough, I should think."

"You think they don't appreciate you. But I think, deep down, they do." Hatori shrugged. "To a greater or lesser degree, anyway."

He glanced at his cousin out the corner of one eye. "So cheer up already, will you?"

Shigure could only stare at his friend in awe, his eyes shining. "Ha-san...I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me. Ever."

Hatori snorted, but he was smiling inside. He congratulated himself on being able to say exactly what Shigure wanted and needed to hear. Of course, part of it was made-up, but who cared, as long as Shigure was himself again. "Don't get too used to it."

"I won't!" Shigure happily took a sip from his tea, his face much brighter now than it had been just a few minutes ago. "Are you staying the night?"

Hatori shook his head. "Akito's doing poorly at the moment. I have to go back and see if he's had any bowel movements at all today." He winced.

Shigure knew he should sympathize. But it was Hatori's own fault thathis good spirits were restored anyway, so he might as well have himself some fun. "Ha-san...that's your idea of a good time, isn't it? Doing rectal exams?" He grinned. "See, you should just quit and be a writer, like me! At least none of my body parts will ever be in another person's body where it's not supposed to be!"

"Keep it up and I'll give you a rectal right here and now," Hatori warned, half-serious. "With the prized Mont Blanc fountain pen Ayame gave you for your birthday last year."

"Ha-san, you're so mean! To think that you were so nice to me just a few minutes ago!" But Shigure inched away from him anyway, his face brightening at the mention of their other best friend. "Aya! The missing piece to the Mabudachi Trio Jigsaw Puzzle! Ne, Ha-san, when is he coming back again?"

"Day after tomorrow." Hatori rose. "I should probably go. It's getting very late." He regarded his sitting cousin calculatively. "Are you still feeling suicidal?"

Shigure gave him a thumbs-up sign, and grinned sheepishly. "I'm A-okay now! Sorry for making you worry. But it makes me feel all warm and good inside, knowing that you cared! I am so lucky to have such a-"

"If Honda-kun starts to feel itchy underneath the cast tomorrow, tell her it's normal," Hatori interrupted, grabbing his coat and bag from off the floor. "And tell her not to get it wet when she takes a bath."

"I will!" Shigure showed him out.

"Get some sleep Shigure. I understand your sleeping schedule is a bit off nowadays. It's starting to show."

Shigure shooed him out. "Don't you worry about me Ha-san...I put cucumber slices on my eyes every morning! Or every evening, depending when I actually wake up-but it really works! See, no eyebags!"

Hatori sighed. Maybe a depressed Shigure wasn't such a bad idea after all.

He started the engine of his car. "Don't tell me you're going to do more writing tonight?"

"No, I'll do it tomorrow. And besides I have somewhere to go." Shigure shrugged.

Hatori leaned an elbow out the window, and looked at him questioningly.

Shigure pointed his index finger heavenward and gave him a knowing smile.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing here?" He barked.

"It's my roof," Shigure said simply, shrugging his shoulders.

"Okay.." Kyo should rephrase. "What the hell do you want?"

"Do I have to want something, Kyo-kun?"

"Oi! Stop messing around!" He grabbed Shigure's collar and gave the dog a shake. "You got something to say to me, just say it!"

"Ah-ah-ah!" Shigure waggled his finger. "Before you shove me off the edge, I should tell you that I might just decide to take the roof down, you know, renovate the house, make it open-air, with just the twinkling blanket of stars over our heads, and you won't have anywhere to hang anymore, how does that sound?"

"Grrr!" Kyo grinded his teeth together. He let go of the dog. "Stupid inu."

"You're so cute."

"What did you just say!"

"Calm down, Kyo-kun. You'll wake up Tohru-kun! Although-" Shigure tipped his head precariously down the edge of the roof to take a look. "I do find it interesting why you always choose this spot to hang. Do you find it easier to sulk if you're sitting on top of Tohru-kun's room? Or have you been a Peeping Tom, you naughty, naughty boy? Spying on our little flower like that?"

"I hope you fall and break your neck," Kyo said viciously.

"Aw, your compassion for others is really quite touching-" Shigure drew his head back. "I'm...not so sure if you really wanted to wish that on me though."

Kyo watched as the dog spirit stretch his long legs out over the edge and wiggle his toes. "Wishing for someone else's misfortune would just be another insult to your already burdened conscience if it came true, would it not?"

Kyo frowned. Shigure was always so wordy. What the hell does that mean anyw-

Oh.

Shigure caught the sudden stiffening of his body and knew he'd hit a nerve.

"How..is she?"

Shigure smiled softly. "She's alright. Just a small fracture. Although we will be fending for ourselves for the next couple of weeks, give or take a few days."

Kyo bowed his head.

"He's wrong, you know."

Kyo lifted his head to the sky; all the fight seemed to have left him, and his silence was only indicative of his turbulent emotions and mixed-up feelings.

"Yuki was...upset. You shouldn't take it to heart...what he said, I mean."

"He was right."

"No, he wasn't."

"Yes, he was!" Kyo cried out. "Ever since the first day she came, I've been saying the wrong things...doing the wrong things...and now this."

"But you've been learning. How to get along with people." Shigure glanced at him. "I've seen you try."

"It wasn't enough," Kyo retorted bitterly. "I...I hurt her anyway." It was a hard confession to make. But he just had to say it. Had to get it off his chest. Even if it was just to Shigure.

"It was an accident, Kyo."

"Baka inu," he muttered. "There's no such thing as accidents. Just my stupid-" He punched a fist against the tiles. "-_stupid _temper."

Shigure climbed to his feet and rose to his full height. He didn't know how Kyo could do it, but the biting cold was seeping through the thin protective layer of his skin, and piercing into his bones.

"Kyo-kun..."

The cat spirit stared unwaveringly into the night.

"I know." Shigure tilted his head, studying the boy's sullen profile in the light of the moon. "I know...guilt is the worst feeling in the world. But it will eat you alive, if you don't let it go."

Kyo swallowed hard. Every single thing Shigure said was true. But that didn't change anything one damn bit.

Yuki was still right. He was still bad luck.

"Don't stay out too long. You're going to catch a cold." With that, Shigure scrambled back inside, throwing him one last look, before finally disappearing into the warm depth of the house.

But Kyo stayed out all night anyway.

**_To be continued..._**

**Author's notes**:

This is NOT good. My third Furuba fic in a month? I must be more stressed than I thought I was. Sorry if Yuki was a bit OOC but honestly, it does lead somewhere, I promise. And besides, that's how I pictured how he'd behave if Tohru had just narrowly missed her death after being shoved down the stairs, by Kyo, of all people, accident or no accident!

Kizuna literally means 'bond'; and that's what this fic is all about! Bonds! It's non-yaoi; I'm just trying to explore the different sorts of relationship they've got going on with each other. It's quite fun, really. Although I've only ever seen the anime, so pardon any OOC-ness and uncanonness.

I edited the previous version, made it longer, it's more satisfying this way, yes?

-S-E-L-E-A-R-W-E-V-P-I-E-

Jumble that around what do you get?

P-L-E-A-S-E R-E-V-I-E-W!

ps: As you can probably guess, I'm kind of stoned at the moment. Nyahaha.


	2. Chapter 2

Breakfast was a sombre occasion, the most interesting aspect of it being the lack of variety in the dishes served; boiled rice, grilled fish and steamed vegetables were the best Shigure could manage, what with Tohru rendered virtually one-handed, Kyo having fallen asleep on the roof and woken up with a sniffle, and Yuki-well, Yuki was never a morning person to begin with.

"So. What is everyone's plan for today?" Shigure initiated an opening line, maintaining his ensemble of high spirits and cheeriness. But his attempt at normality fell flat on his face when the only thing that broke the uncomfortable ensuing silence was the clanging of Tohru's spoon against her plate. (She couldn't lift a bowl and use chopsticks at the same time; so she had to use a spoon, but all her life, she'd been using chopsticks; hence the clanging.)

"Oh my...did everyone wake up with an earache this morning? Ah, that sure explains why no one's heard me-well, in that case let me repea-"

"We heard you," Yuki muttered.

"Oh!" Shigure lifted both eyebrows in mock surprise. Finally someone speaks! "Then it must be the food, then! It's too delicious, isn't it? You're all enjoying it too much, it's rendered you speechless!" He beamed. "Although I know it's not as delicious as Tohru's cooking, but it warms my heart to see everyone so engrossed-just don't forget to do the washing up later!"

Tohru let out an involuntary cry of distress.

"Don't you worry, Tohru-kun! I know you're upset about not being able to do your chores-we'll manage somehow! And don't hesitate to tell these two numbskulls what to do, they're barely pulling their weight around the house, which is totally unacceptable! Although you shouldn't ever let Yuki-kun into the kitchen unless it's absolutely necessary. And even then...please don't."

Shigure happily chattered away even though no one was responding to his empty babble. "Since you children obviously haven't got anything planned for today, well, let me just tell you, this house is full of wonderful, exciting activities to keep you occupied! The lawn needs weeding, and the plants need spraying, the pesticide's in the storage closet-I'm sure Yuki-kun wouldn't mind helping out with that, unless the green thumb he's so proud of was a joke-"

Kyo slammed his bowl down on the table with a bang, and Shigure suddenly found himself pelted with stray flying bits of rice.

"Will you for once in your life just _shut up_?" Kyo snarled, baring his teeth.

With a gasp, Tohru dropped her spoon with a start; her non-dominant hand conferring too fragile a grip to withstand the sudden assault against her eardrums.

Shigure's stricken face disappeared in a friction of a second before anyone even had the chance to see it; obviously Kyo was still upset. "Why, Kyo-chan! There's no need to get excited! You've startled poor Tohru-kun...let's just limit the amount of torture we put her through, okay?"

He grinned. "How are you doing there, Tohru-kun? Hope you like the food-I know it's not much but..."

Tohru was thankful that Shigure had not taken Kyo's brash manners to heart; Shigure-san is always so reasonable, she thought in relief. "It's very good!" She gushed, nodding her head emphatically. Sugoi! Not only could he write, and draw, he could also cook! Tohru had even heard him sing sometimes in the shower; she had never met someone as multi-talented as him.

"Shigure-san is such a good cook!"

Shigure laughed. "I'm so embarrassed! Nothing can compare to your cooking, that I know! Well...you know what they say, we have to always be thankful with what we have, right?"

"Right," Tohru smiled happily. She reached for the soy sauce. With difficulty, she tried to unscrew the top, having to prop the bottle against the leg of the table so she could use her good hand to open it. Yuki watched silently out the corner of one eye, his appetite receding with each passing second.

He shot a hard look across the table, but Kyo was still keeping his head down, not looking at anyone. Knowing the cat, and judging from the tense way his shoulders were hunched and how he kept avoiding Tohru's eyes...Yuki had a strong feeling that he had not even apologized to her. The nerve! The least he could do was apologize! Yuki's face burned. He placed his down chopsticks across the bowl, indicating he was finished.

"Thank you for the meal," he muttered as he rose.

"Where are you going, Yuki-kun? You know it's very rude to leave the table when others are still eating," Shigure pouted, waggling his chopsticks at him. "And you've hardly touched your food!"

"I have homework," Yuki mumbled vaguely, avoiding the inu's eyes. He couldn't sit there anymore, it was too stifling. The thought of breathing the same air as the baka neko made him sick to his stomach; seeing Honda-san struggling with even the simplest task, he felt the same wave of anger he did last night.

Shigure just stared as Yuki headed for the door.

"Tohru-kun, I have a special favour I need to ask of you-you are going grocery shopping today, aren't you?"

Yuki froze in his tracks. Kyo, who had been busy pretending to be busy shovelling food into his mouth, banged his bowl for the second time against the table.

"Are you out of your mind? You know bloody well she's hurt! And you're still making her work?"

"Anou...Kyo-kun..." Tohru started to protest. "I'm fine, really! I still have my other hand, see?"

"Nonsense." Yuki glared at Shigure. "Shigure, you're way out of line. Honda-san can barely dress herself. How do you expect her to carry all the groceries home, you baka?"

"Man...you guys are so cynical! Of course I'm not going to make her work! Who ever says she's going to anyway?" Shigure frowned, confused as to why everyone was mad. "I was going to make you do it, Yuki, but then, you have homework to do, so too bad-" Yuki's face strickened. "-that leaves..."

Kyo's eyes widened, and his face went instantly red.

"What is it, Kyo-kun? Your face is redder than your hair! Are you choking? Do you need some water?" Shigure teased.

Yuki let out something which sounded like a cross between a gasp and squeak. "You've got to be kidding!" Angrily, he marched back inside.

"You let him anywhere near Honda-san and I'll make you regret it for the rest of your life, Shigure." He glowered. "Can't you see he's dangerous? He could have killed her last night-or don't you remember?"

Kyo's fists curled into tight balls. Tohru anxiously reached out for him, her eyes wide with concern, but he pulled away as if burned.

Shigure calmly crossed his arms. "Don't you think you're over-exaggerating, Yuki-kun?"

Yuki glowered. "Would you still think I was exaggerating if Honda-san had broken more than her wrist?"

"It was an accident. It's not going to happen again." Shigure still maintained his cool demeanour.

"Yuki-kun...please, calm down. Don't worry! I'll...I'll be alright, really..." Tohru was starting to feel really helpless; she was grateful to have so many people worried about her, but this was getting out of control. She had never seen Yuki act like this, the ever calm and collected, with the air of a prince, Yuki, this verbally aggressive; it was very disconcerting.

"Honda-san...this is not something to be taken lightly!" Yuki's violet eyes flashed. "Oi. Say something! How can you just sit there, acting like nothing happened?"

Kyo's jaw clenched visibly, the knuckles gripping the edge of the table turning white as he locked stares with Yuki. "You damn rat..." The only thing stopping him from jumping up and pummelling the smart-ass rat to the ground was the fact that...

Yuki was right. He deserved it. Tohru got hurt because of him.

"Tell me, cat, did you even apologize to Honda-san?" Yuki hissed.

Kyo's body, shaking with anger just a few seconds ago, stiffened.

"Yuki-kun...please..." Tohru pleaded.

"That's enough, Yuki," Shigure said sharply. "I think you've expressed yourself quite clearly. I don't understand why you're so angry. The one who deserves an apology is Tohru-kun, not you. And to decide whom the apology should come from is highly judgemental and self-righteous of you. Stop it."

Yuki's mouth closed abruptly.

He stood rooted to the floor as if frozen, his stare locked in the deep brown of Shigure's eyes.

His lips thinned. Without saying another word, Yuki abruptly turned around and stalked out of the dining room.

Shigure exhaled loudly, before smiling apologetically at Tohru.

"Sorry about that, Tohru-kun. Looks like Yuki woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I hope he hasn't upset you."

"N-no..." Tohru tried her best to keep Shigure from seeing how close she was to tears. It saddened her to see everyone so upset...oh how she wished she hadn't hurt herself! Honda Tohru, you clumsy klutz! You can't even fall properly!

"It's my fault, Shigure-san! I shouldn't have been standing there in the first place-the staircase is dangerous enough on its own, I could have fallen on my own anyway even if I hadn't gotten in the way of Yuki-kun and Kyo-kun's argument..."

"Don't be stupid," Kyo growled. That was the first time he had spoken directly to her.

"Kyo-kun..." She reached out for his hand but he refused to even look at her.

"Don't be stupid," he repeated, much more angrily this time. "How could it have been your fault that you fell? Stop blaming yourself for every bloody thing that goes wrong around here!"

Shigure only watched in silence. He waited for Kyo to say more. When he didn't, Shigure knew he had to do something.

"You two..."

Both heads turned to him.

"When you go out later this afternoon, can you get me a bottle of ink from the stationery shop in town? I'm all dry." He had two unopened ones in his desk, but that was the farthest shop he could think of; it would take them a good hour walking to and back.

_More than enough time, I should think._

* * *

By late afternoon, Yuki found himself regretting having eaten so little at breakfast. He had locked himself in his room for most of the day, deciding it best to steer clear of everyone for now. Or maybe he just wanted to avoid that one particular person. It was bad enough that they had to live in the same house and pretend to be civil to each other, but with this recent turn of events, Kyo being in his face was the last thing he needed.

But the hunger pangs in his stomach were becoming too strong to ignore. Thankfully Kyo had gone out (but Honda-san had gone with him, much to his chagrin, not to mention jealousy), so he guessed it was safe to venture out of his room now.

He passed Shigure's study. He could hear him banging away on his computer, the rapid clickings indicating that the dog spirit was deep in work. Yuki found himself wavering, uncertain if he should apologize, or if he even needed to. Everything Yuki had said to him...and to that baka neko...it had all been perfectly justified.

Right?

He shook himself out of his reverie. And the typing sound had stopped too.

Yuki hurriedly scurried off; and as he walked down the stairs, he winced as he remembered last night's incident. The image of Honda-san sprawled on all fours at the foot of the stairs, tears of pain springing to her eyes assaulted his mind. He shook his head again.

Don't think about it. You'll get upset again. Honda-san's fine. She's fine.

_So why do I feel so rotten inside?_

* * *

Shigure's fingers hovered over the keyboard. He recognised the scent; the footsteps had stopped in front of his study.

He waited.

Is he going to come in? He wondered.

Just as much as Kyo needed someone to talk to, Shigure understood perfectly that Yuki badly needed that as well.

_I'm here, Yuki. If you want to talk._

He knew Yuki was smarter than most adolescents his age, and he knew no prompting was needed; Shigure needed not push Yuki. If Yuki wanted help, Shigure knew he would ask for it.

But the footsteps picked up pace again and disappeared in the direction of the stairs.

Shigure shook his head, amused, a little smile gracing his lips.

He pushed his glasses higher up his nose and went back to work.

* * *

Yuki growled at the fridge. He closed it with a bang. He went to the cabinets and pulled them open one by one.

We're even out of instant noodles! Unbelievable.

Yuki closed the cabinet door none too gently. Wincing, he wondered if he should call for a take-out. If he was ordering out that meant he'd have to ask Shigure what he wanted as well, and Yuki wasn't too keen on facing the dog right now, even if everyone's distrust in his cooking and domestic skills was perfectly justified.

Eggs.

Hmm.

He guessed he could live with them for now. Burnt eggs wouldn't taste so bad with the leftover rice from this morning, at least. Lots and lots of rice. Then the charcoal wouldn't taste so bad. He took an egg out from the fridge, and hesitated slightly before taking out two more (not that he would eat them all; the other two were a back-up plan, just in case his first try turned out to be inedible).

He wondered if he should fix some lunch for Shigure as well, but then again, anyone would rather live on bread and water than to eat anything he made. Shigure would just have to fix something for himself later. And besides, the dog spirit was in one of his frenzied writing modes, and he often didn't come down for meals when he was like this anyway.

Yuki turned the stove on and lit a matchstick, gingerly touching the tiny flame to the hob. It didn't catch on fire. He turned the knob to full, but still the fire wouldn't light.

Heh. Stupid stove.

Leaving the first one, Yuki tried another knob. And lit another match. Ah! This time it worked.

His first fried egg was a disaster. It got so black it refused to unstick from the pan, even when Yuki tried to scrape it off with a fork.

I'm rubbish at this. I'm just rubbish, Yuki groaned silently, his stomach growling even louder, after being stimulated by the delicious smell of egg frying, only to have it go black and into the trash can.

His third try was more fruitful however, and by the time Yuki had his simple lunch of rice and egg ready to be enjoyed, he had given himself a mild headache.

I should go out. Do something. Clear my head.

Yuki guessed he should just go that one place he knew he could find some peace of mind, some refuge from this constant turmoil of turbulent emotions he kept hidden inside. The strawberry plants needed some fertilizers anyway, he thought as he ate his meal in solitude.

* * *

Shigure was starting to get double vision from staring at the computer for too long. Although he'd been typing for quite some time now, he only ended up deleting most of it, in the end leaving him with barely anything. The ideas were flowing freely in his head, for once, but he couldn't seem to put them all onto paper. He hadn't stopped trying because he wasn't one to pass on this opportunity to get some real writing down; it helped pay the rent after all. Well. Figure of speech. Since the Sohmas owned the house anyway, Shigure could often find his way around it, one way or another. Not that he cared much about the royalty money, he rarely spent it anyway.

He had a feeling last night he was paving his way toward yet another bestseller. And now he was trying to get it back.

He stretched his back, relieving the cramps which had settled in from sitting still too long. Just as he was about to start working again, the phone rang.

"Yuki-kun!" He waited for his cousin to answer the call.

"Yu-" Oh right. He had heard the front door slam about fifteen minutes ago. Apparently Yuki had gone out. Where to, Shigure didn't know. But he really hoped this whole blame/guilt thing would blow over soon. It was hard being the only happy, normal person around here.

The phone kept on ringing.

Great. Just great.

Reluctantly, Shigure rose from his seat, frowning, more than a little annoyed at being disturbed when he was trying to concentrate. Who could it be? Could it be Kyo? I hope he hasn't pushed Tohru-kun into a ditch or something, that klutz. Or it could be Mii-chan. He winced a little. But he was wrong on both guesses.

"Ha-san. This is a surprise...it is I who normally does the calling, is it not?"

His cousin's dry response was unfeeling as always. "Yes, as the representative from a house full of accident-prone people, you are half-right. I am calling to see how Honda-kun is doing. She is not doing too badly, is she?"

"We both know she would never let something like a fractured wrist keep her spirits down. There has been a reversal in roles however-she's the one doing the consoling and comforting, instead of the other way around."

"Kyo is still upset?"

"I wouldn't know really-it's a given that he's grouchy 24 hours a day to begin with. But yes, he is still quite distraught at what he had allegedly done to cause such injury to Tohru-kun, but really I beg to differ..."

"An accident is an accident, nothing more. Unless there's insurance money involved somewhere."

Shigure gave a low snicker. "She's taken Kyo grocery shopping, she does need extra hands after all."

Hatori growled. "I thought I gave strict orders that my patient was not to be let out of bed, much less be put to work?"

"Calm down, Ha-san. She insisted. And of course I made sure she was alright to go. I'm not an imbecile."

On the other end, Hatori blinked. Shigure sounded almost irritated. Strange.

"And besides, she and Kyo needed to talk."

Ah. Hatori finally understood. The only person who could restore Kyo's spirits was none other than Honda-kun herself.

"And here I thought Kyo-kun would have enough sense to just listen to his elders, one of whom being me! So here I go again, leaving all the work to Tohru-kun like the useless log that I am but-" But Shigure's voice perked again. "I am just glad she's taking it so well, I have yet to hear her complain or sigh at all! A brave, tough girl-that she is!"

Then he sighed. "Although I have a strong feeling she was happier about dragging Kyo-kun out than I am, she just wants to keep him away from Yuki-kun. Why, oh why did I sign up for all this?"

"Because you know you're a lonely old geezer who'll end up playing Jenga with himself and fighting over dog food with the resident nursing home mutt while trying to write an autobiography and watch infomercials at the same time?"

A snort. "I'm throwing that line right back at you, Ha-san." Then a tired sigh.

"You are sighing an awful lot today, Shigure." The doctor's keen sense of perception was indeed unrivalled. He wondered if Shigure was still upset from last night but for as long as he'd known him, Shigure had never been one to ruminate on past grudges; once he was over something, then he was over it for good. "Has it not been a good day?"

Shigure rested his head against the wall, twirling the cord around his index finger glumly. "I'm all out of cigarettes. It's making my head hurt."

"It beats coughing out a lung," Hatori dead-panned.

"Pot calling the kettle black, Ha-san!" Shigure countered in a sing-song voice. "As if you're not smoking yourself. I can smell it all the way from here. Ooh, there's smoke coming out of the mouthpiece! See? "

"At least I've got life insurance," Shigure heard the doctor mutter under his breath.

"Dragon breath," Shigure teased.

Hatori cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Oh, I almost forgot-Ayame called me up this morning and apparently he has fallen deeply in love with Milan and has decided to stay for another week-"

Shigure let out a whine of distress.

"And of course he warned me only about thirty times not to forget to come get him."

"Aaya stranded in a crowded airport? I can only imagine," Shigure smiled at the image of Ayame parading around the luggage carousels, looking majestic in his magnificent new clothes, hand on a hip, silver hair cascading down his back, dainty fingers snapping porters forward, lugging his suitcases around. Knowing Ayame, he must have bought out the whole of Milan by now, being the fashion slave that he was.

Shigure breathed in deeply, amazed at how dependent he'd become on his daily nicotine fix; he'd been reduced to this lethargic, disoriented mess. Either that, or the house needs airing, he thought. It sure is stuffy in here today.

"Tohru-kun hurt her arm so she can't cook-my poor little thing...she can't clean. She can't wash. And she's more depressed about it than all three of us combined! And those two brats, whose testosterone levels have literally skyrocketed through my roof-which is still yet to be fixed from last week by the way-are simply slipping out of my control. I feel like a bachelor all over again," Shigure mourned.

"Aren't you the King of Obviousland."

"Feeling hilarious aren't you today, Ha-san?" Shigure returned his biting sarcasm with a dash of salt.

"Whatever," Hatori said shortly. He was not in an argumentative mood, especially not with a grouchy and tired Shigure. The novelist rarely had bad days, but when he did, Hatori usually gave him a wide berth. "How's the future best-seller coming along?"

He could almost see Shigure smile again. "Ah, Ha-san...you flatter me! It's...coming along fine, I suppose. I was in heat last night-"

Hatori sweat-dropped. "In heat?"

And an awkward silence.

"And you call me a pervert, you naughty man," Shigure laughed. "No, what I meant was, right before the accident happened, I was in the middle of writing the climax of the novel! See, I was at my level best, but then, Tohru-kun fell and there was all that commotion and I kind of lost my momentum...Been trying all morning to pick up where I left off, but-"

He sighed tiredly. "Maybe I'm just hungry. I should just fix myself something but I heard Yuki-kun banging things around in the kitchen just now, and I think I smelt something burning and...well, suffice to say that...I don't intend on visiting the kitchen anytime soon for fear of what I might see. Or what might see me! At this rate, I'm going to need a new house by the end of the year!"

Hatori only half-listened, offering him as much silent sympathy as he could and normally did muster. He had heard this a thousand times before anyway.

"Ha-san, are you still there? You have been listening, haven't you?"

"Of course."

"Ah, you are such a good friend. What would I do without you?" Shigure tsk-tsked. "Why don't you come over for tea? How about right now?"

Hatori could read him like a book. "You just want my cigarettes. And I thought you had a novel to finish. You'll do anything to get out of work, won't you?"

"Haha, the book can wait. Good company and tea (and a smoke) would get my creative juice running in no time!" Warily, he twisted at his waist and poked a head inside the kitchen. "Hmm, on second thought, better not. The kitchen's so messy right now I doubt I'd even find the sink."

Shigure turned around again and suddenly felt a little light-headed. Frowning, he leaned against the wall for support and waited for the spinning feeling to pass. Low blood sugar. Maybe he should sit.

Oh Tohru-kun, why a broken wrist? Why now of all times? Who's going to take care of me now? He sobbed inside, feeling sorry for himself all of a sudden. Oh, there is one person who can cheer me up no matter what-

"Ne, ne, Ha-san...what time are we picking Aaya up tomorrow? I need to press my suit."

"What are you talking about?"

The dog spirit frowned. "Is he not coming back tomorrow?"

"Shigure, didn't I just tell you Ayame's extending his stay and will only be coming back next week?"

"Hmm?" Shigure pinched the bridge of his nose. Oh yeah, he remembered now. How in the world could he have forgotten? He must be more tired than he thought.

"Shigure, is everything alright?"

"Uh, yes, ah-" Shigure shook his head a little. "I think..." Cobwebs. Why was he seeing cobwebs?

Hatori was silent for a while. "Is there anyone home with you?"

"No, they've all left me...I'm all alone. This is so depressing! Even Yuki's left me. He stalked off a half hour ago, not even bothering to say goodbye..." Shigure pressed his back against the wall and wavered a little, before sliding down in a graceless slump. He was getting drowsy.

"Like a little puppy lost in the snow...I yearn for some warmth...I yearn for the fiery touch of another human being to set my soul ablaze, and melt this ice of despair around my heart..."

Hatori sighed as Shigure coughed theatrically a few times, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at his cousin's dramatics. He refused to be dragged down to such juvenile resorts. He had standards.

So he made do with just a light snort. "You'll survive. Go play with your tail or something."

Shigure was silent. A small dry cough. Pitiful.

Despite his better judgement, Hatori finally decided to take some pity on his cousin. "Look, I'm only a minute's drive from your house anyway. Get dressed, in something other than your usual rags, will you please? God knows we've all taught you how to dress-I'll take you out to lunch."

A stunned silence. Then a low whimper. "Ha-san..."

"Shigure, I'm sure with all the royalty cheques coming in, you can afford some decent clothes. Or did you spend all that money on pole dancers?" Hatori asked half-jokingly, taking a final drag from his cigarette before flicking it out the window, some ash hovering in the wind before settling in on his clean dashboard. He grimaced. "Now get your bum off the floor and get a move on. Before I change my mind."

"I...can't-" A strangled whisper, hoarse and dry.

"What's that?"

"...breathe." Shigure's rapid gasps escalated, bristling through the connection.

What now? "Are you up to something?"

The noisy breathing ceased, but Shigure was still wheezing.

In alarm, Hatori sat up straighter, trying to listen, while keeping his eye on the road. A trick. A tasteless one at that. But to his expert ear, the hyperventilating was certainly for real. "Are you choking? Is something caught in your throat?"

"No-" Shigure let out a frantic chain of dry coughs, the effort making his head spin even faster. His grip on the phone loosened, but he pressed his cheek against the wall, propping it up to his ear.

"Shigure?"

Shigure blinked in rapid succession a few times, desperate to clear the sudden display of fireworks exploding in front of his eyes. He closed them briefly; but when he tried to open them again, he couldn't.

Hmm? Confused, Shigure struggled to grope for his face in the sudden darkness, but his arms remained flaccid by his side, refusing to lift. His lips tried to form words, but he was too busy trying to catch his breath to use the precious air to speak.

"This is not funny, Shigure. Stop breathing like that. You're going to pass out."

"Ha...san..." Shigure was aware of the croak trying to escape his vocal cords, but if he couldn't hear it, he doubted Hatori would.

As the last of his senses began to fail, he could dimly hear someone calling his name over and over. The phone slipped from the hollow of his cheek, the thunk it made against the hardwood floor resonating in his brain, somewhat aware of it shutting down on its own volition.

The dead weight of his body settled under gravity, and he slumped slowly to the side, aware of his head knocking against the edge of the table, but surprisingly, he didn't feel a thing.

Ha-san...my body's gone to sleep...what's...going...on?

As the lethal gas seeped silently into every vent and crook and corner of the house, it shrouded every dead and living thing in its deadly cocoon of poison.

Rags? My sexy kimonos...rags?

Those were Shigure's last thoughts before everything went black.

* * *

"Shigure?" Hatori raised his voice a notch. He could still hear gasps, but they were now shallower, raspier. "What is it?"

Frowning, Hatori pressed his cellphone closer to his lips.

"Shigure, what's going on?" He asked loudly, his right foot unconsciously pressing on the gas pedal.

"Shigu-" All he heard then was a loud thunk, followed by an ominous silence. The inu had dropped the phone. Or he was just playing a cruel trick on him, hoping the Dragon would meet his early demise from a heart attack.

Either way, it didn't stop the tell-tale tingles of fear from crawling up his fingers and feet. Hatori waited for a couple more seconds, hoping the stupid dog would pick up the bloody phone so Hatori could call his stupid bluff, but he didn't.

Wild thoughts fleeted through his mind at lightning speed; has someone broken into the house and attacked his friend? Is he having a heart attack? A seizure? Or God forbid, a stroke?

Hatori killed the now-dead connection and punched in a new number. "I need an ambulance right away. No, not to the Sohma House. Send it to this address-" he rattled off his cousin's address from memory. He paused.

"No, I can't tell you the state of emergency-just send it over immediately." The bad feeling in his gut grew.

Shigure had been fine last night and he didn't remember the dog being ill recently-if he had been, Hatori would have been the first to know, he was sure of that. The first signs of a sniffle and the dog thinks it's a tumour, he always thought. But this time there was no drama. This time there were no fake tears or whimpers.

This time it was different...somehow. He could feel it.

Hatori threw the phone down onto the passenger seat and stepped on the gas even more. Finally, the main road widened into a familiar clearing, and he viciously wrenched the steering wheel to the side, narrowly missing the lamppost at the sharp turn which led into the compound of Shigure's house.

Not bothering to knock, Hatori tried the front door. Locked. He banged on it hard, once. And again.

"Shigure!"

Nothing.

Hatori circled the house hastily, and scrambled up the side porch, fervently hoping it wasn't locked. It wasn't. He slid it open, letting the rapidly fading sunlight bathe the living room with its dim yellow hue. Shigure was nowhere to be seen.

The phone, he told himself. Hatori marched in, pausing just for a second to hit the light switch. His eyes fell onto the familiar figure slumped on the floor in the middle of the hallway, the disconnected phone lying a mere feet away from his outstretched hand.

Shigure! Hatori dropped to his knees and was about to reach out for his cousin when he saw something that made his heart race.

Shigure's face was a frightening, cyanosed blue, but his lips were tinged with red.

Hatori seized his cousin's slack jaw and pried his mouth open. And his breath caught in his throat. Shigure's gums, the inside wall of his cheeks-all bright-red.

Hatori's own head was starting to spin. He had seen this enough times throughout his medical career to still acknowledge that the sudden chill running down his spine was not because of the cold monsoon draft settling in.

Shit.

He plunged into the living room again and checked the gas heater. It wasn't on.

He dove into the kitchen and looked around wildly. He stood still for a few precious seconds. Where is that low hiss coming from?

Hatori checked the kitchen heater. No, not here.

Then he saw the stove. He groped blindly for the knobs. True enough, one of them was turned on, but there was no flame. Gas. Free-flowing gas.

Dear God in Heaven...Hatori viciously twisted the knob to its rightful off position. And the hissing sound stopped.

Hatori gathered his cousin's long limbs in his arms, shoved himself off the porch and dragged Shigure's body across the grass outside, as far away from the house as possible, only stopping once they reached his car.

After laying him down gently on the grass, Hatori tugged Shigure's chin upward to clear his airway. He had no idea how long the deadly inert gas had been pumping its way out from the leak. And he had no idea how long Shigure had been exposed to it.

Hatori reluctantly left his cousin's side to run back into the house; he had to make sure no one else was trapped inside with the poisonous gas still circulating in the air. Holding his breath as best as he could, he checked every room, and the toilets, the study-the house was clear.

Thank God.

Hatori rushed back to where he left Shigure and dropped to his knees. He swept his eyes along the length of Shigure's motionless form.

No movement of the chest...no breathing sounds...Hatori placed his cheek against Shigure's lips. No warmth of breath. He was clearly not breathing.

Pinching the soft part of Shigure's nose with one hand, Hatori used the other to pry his mouth open. He took a deep breath and blew steadily into Shigure's mouth for about 2 seconds, watching as his chest rose. And fell. Hatori gave another rescue breath, and waited to see if Shigure would breathe on his own. But his chest didn't rise.

Hatori placed two fingers against the side of his neck. No pulse.

Panic seized Hatori's heart in a vice-like grip.

After years and years of practice, instinct took over, and Hatori placed the heel of one hand on Shigure's lower breastbone, interlocking his fingers with the other, and pressed down vertically, compressing the chest in regular intervals; counting silently in his head, aware of the cold sweat forming along his hairline.

As he reached fifteen, he tilted Shigure's head back and gave two more rescue breaths, all the while fervently praying for any sign of life.

He feverishly repeated the cycle of alternating compressions and breaths for the next few minutes, his sweat-dampened hair tumbling down across his forehead, obscuring his already poor vision. Hatori tossed his hair out of the way before leaning down again.

Shigure, come on! He blew forcefully once more down his friend's throat, painfully aware of the prickling sensation in his eyes.

If Hatori couldn't get his heart to start, Shigure would go into cardiac arrest.

Breathe. Come on. Breathe.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

**Author's notes:**

I wrote the entire chapter while listening to Okiayu Ryuutarou's songs (he's the voice actor for Shigure!) and all the while it felt as if Shigure was singing to me (drool alert)...serenading me as I was weaving this intricate tapestry of a story (only an exaggeration, I am fully aware of how straightforward this story is-it's so straight it's almost painful).

So there, a very, very long chapter (for my standards, at least) The only thing I want to do now is fall into bed and sleep in till next week. And as I have been trying to do ever since I fell in love with Fruits Basket (and Sohma Shigure in particular) I would like to spread some Shigure love around so if anyone wants to know how Okiayu sounds like when he sings (Oh God everytime he sings he stops my heart) and doesn't know where to get them, just leave me your email address and I'll email the songs to you! I swear, the guy can **soooo** sing.

And one last thing: Please read and review! Flames only mean all the more reviews for me! And Merry Christmas everyone!


	3. Chapter 3

Yuki glumly plucked a few stalks of weed from around his leeks. Surrounded by his greens, he couldn't help feeling a little lonely; and as if they felt empathy for him, his plants seemed to bow toward the ground, as if offering some kind of resort for his heavy, troubled heart.

I wish I could do more for her, he told them silently. The leaves danced around in the breeze. In sympathy.

He patted his leeks lovingly with a dirt-covered hand. They had just been planted; it was a new batch. Tohru had a fever recently, and of course, the stupid cat decided to be the hero and play nurse, razing his prized garden to the ground, stealing the last of his leeks.

He hadn't minded, really. At least, the leek soup had gotten her back on her feet.

But he wished it could have been him. And not that baka neko.

Selfish, I know. He smiled bitterly. But this was the first time he had ever been comfortable around a girl. The first time he didn't have to worry about accidentally hugging someone and turning into a rat. His first real friend, who wasn't part of his immediate family.

And he nearly lost her. All because of that cat.

A bit over-dramatic and far-fetched really...he knew, and was thankful Honda-san was alright, but anything could have happened last night. It was just sheer luck she didn't break her neck. Even if she could forgive Kyo for what he did (Yuki had not the slightest doubt she would, she had the heart of an angel after all, God bless her) but he didn't know if he could.

As long as the cat remained in the house, he was a threat.

* * *

Kyo dragged his feet across the gravel, and unenthusiastically kicked a stone, watching with dull eyes as it landed a few feet away. The sun was setting low against the horizon, its orange rays filtering through the trees, penetrating the transparent leaves of spring blossoms, resting on his face with the warmest glow. But his heart remained glum.

"Kyo-kun..." Tohru couldn't bear it anymore; Kyo's reticence was like a knife stabbing into her heart over and over again. What Yuki said to him the night before must still be lingering on his mind. Being the cat Jyuunishi meant losing his rightful place in the Sohma family to begin with, but to be reminded of his nature as the outcast, the unwanted, the unloved, right in his own home when he had nowhere else to go-

Kyo-kun...

She quickened her pace a little, holding her sore wrist close to her body to not jostle it too much. Finally she caught up with him, but Kyo was showing no sign of slowing down, although she knew the bags almost overflowing with groceries he was carrying were anything but light.

"Kyo-kun, wait-" She reached out and lightly touched his elbow. The red-haired cat spirit froze at the feathery touch grazing his skin.

"Anou...Kyo-kun..." Tohru held her breath as he turned his head around slightly, but instead of looking at her face, he gazed at her feet, as if afraid to meet her eyes. "You haven't said a single word since we left the house."

She swallowed hard, unsure of what she could say to make him feel better but she couldn't stand seeing him like this. "Everyone's... worried about you. I'm...worried too. Please, tell me what's on your mind. You look upset."

Upset. Kyo's lips curled upward slightly, but there was no joy behind his smile.

"What the hell does it matter?"

Tohru's eyes misted. "I'm sorry...I was just..."

"You always have to worry about everything, don't you?"

Tohru's lower lip began to tremble. It was bad enough that her injury had brought her chores around the house to a complete halt, causing so much trouble to everyone, and because of her, Yuki had said such cruel things to Kyo...and now-

It was all her fault that everyone was miserable.

"I'm sorry..." Overwhelmed with distress, she couldn't make her feet move anymore. She found a large rock and sat, covering her face with her good hand.

Kyo was dumbfounded. He dropped the grocery bag onto the ground and rushed over to her, temporarily forgetting about his own misery. "Oi. Are you crying?"

He stood uncertainly in front of her, looking down at the back of her bowed head. "Oi, what is it? Is your wrist hurting? Did I say something wrong?"

Tohru shook her head in despair, spraying her tears in every direction. "I didn't mean to make you upset..."

"Heh?" Kyo knelt down in front of her and peered at her face. "What are you talking about?"

"Yuki-kun said such terrible things to you...all because of me..." Tohru's shoulders hitched as she sobbed quietly. "I have no right to say that I understand how you feel...but if you need to tell it to someone...if you need to be angry..." She leapt to her feet and grabbed his sleeves.

""Please, go ahead! I'll...I'll listen!" She nodded her head frantically. "Really!"

Kyo stared at her in amazement.

"You're really something, you know that?" He said softly, finally; reaching out to brush a stray lint off her shoulder. He was finally realizing how deeply he had upset her.

"Eh?" Tohru's cheeks blazed. There was no trace of anger on Kyo's face, nor was there any in his bright brown eyes.

"I don't give a rat's ass about that damn Yuki."

"Eh?" Again.

"You thought that's what's got me all upset, right? All that stuff he said?" Tohru frowned, more than a little confused, but in the end nodded slowly.

"I've heard worse," Kyo shrugged, sticking his hand into his jeans pocket. "I'm used to it."

"And I'm not angry at you. I'm not even angry at Yuki." He took a seat on the big stone next to her. He snickered. "Well, maybe a little bit. Okay, a lot...but the point is..."

"The point is..." he drawled, gazing into the far horizon, at nothing in particular. "It's my fault you got hurt."

"No no!" Tohru squeaked, waving her good hand excitedly in the air. "Kyo-kun, it's not your fault, really-"

"Jeez, woman! Just zip it and let me talk, will you? Thought you said you'd listen!" Kyo grumbled. He awkwardly tweaked his ear, nervous. He was not used to all this psycho-babble BS, but it was too late to do anything about it now anyway. "Shesh!"

"Right, sorry..." Tohru's face turned bright red. Kyo was really doing it, he was really opening up! To her! Don't spoil it, Honda Tohru! Maybe then she could understand him a little bit better; maybe then she could be a better friend to him.

Kyo sighed. I'm real rubbish at this. Maybe Rat-boy does have a point. Maybe saying something as simple as 'I'm sorry' would kill me. Great. He shook his head angrily. No! Stupid Rat! Have to prove him wrong! Right now!

"I'm sorry," he blurted. Now it was his turn to blush. But he knew he needed to say it. Just like Shigure said. Tohru deserved an apology. And Kyo was not so thick as to not get it that that apology had to come from him. "You could have been killed. Sorry."

Tohru was staring at him with a horrified expression. She opened her mouth to say something but Kyo cut her short-

"Say it's not my fault one more time and I'm going to-I'm going to-" Kyo frowned, trying to come up with something creative and original. But finding himself failing miserably when a smile began to tug the corners of Tohru's lips.

"Alright." She bowed, acquiescing, (although she still thought it wasn't his fault really, like Shigure-san said, it was an accident, and Shigure-san was never wrong!) and when she lifted her face again, she was positively beaming. "Apology accepted!"

Kyo's heart soared, and his eyes lit up. And soon he was smiling too, his face way, way brighter than before.

"You klutz!" He socked her lightly on the shoulder.

"Eh?"

"Remind me to teach you a few moves once we get home. You should learn how to do a somersault, that way you could have landed on your feet instead of your dumb wrist. We can't have you falling down and breaking stuff all the time-" He looked at her critically. "And you should drink more milk! Your bones are as brittle as a bird's!"

Tohru giggled. It felt marvellous; to feel this happy again. Almost normal. Her smile faltered a little; Yuki's kind, smiling face flashed through her mind. Yuki-kun...I wonder what he's thinking right now...and I sure hope he's alright...

"We should head back," Kyo said abruptly. "It's getting dark."

"Hai!" Tohru rose to her feet.

Kyo grabbed the grocery bags before he could forget and started to walk, with Tohru trailing close behind. "That Shigure is really going to get it from me this time. Fancy making me walk all the way to the very end of town just to get a stupid bottle of ink. Who uses fountain pens nowadays anyway? Why can't he just use a ball-point pen like normal people? Always making life difficult, that baka inu! And walk faster will you? You'll get left behind!"

"I'm coming!" Tohru increased the speed of her pace, her heart filling with butterflies seeing Kyo almost himself again; she was so glad they had had the chance to talk.

"Jeez...do you need me to leave a trail of breadcrumbs or something? Like that ridiculous fairytale about a gingerbread house and those two kids who got lost in the woods? Hannibal something or other? What, they never heard of a compass before?"

"Kyo-kun must be so used to surviving in the wild-" She said in admiration. "How did it feel, living up on the mountains? Is it true you fought bears? That is so amazing! I would have loved to see it!"

A vein throbbed in Kyo's temple. Not again! "I didn't fight bears!"

Tohru's eyes shone. So modest! She was about to say something else when Kyo suddenly stopped walking, tilting his head heavenward.

"Hey, you hear that?"

"Hmm?" Tohru froze in her tracks as well.

"Sounds like a siren..."

Tohru strained to listen. "Is that...the police?"

"Could be an ambulance." Kyo frowned.

"Is that...strange?" Tohru wanted to know.

Kyo's eyes narrowed. "This whole area is Sohma property. Whatever it is, it's either going to the Main House...or ours..."

Tohru looked worried. "Could something...have happened to Akito-san?"

"Maybe. Shigure'd know. Let's walk faster and find out."

* * *

His arms shaking with fatigue, Hatori was about to start compression again when he suddenly felt Shigure's torso buck; immediately the Dragon rocked back on his heels, mesmerised at the sudden rise and fall of his cousin's chest. But it was too early for any kind of relief; and when the tell-tale tremors began, Hatori hurriedly pushed Shigure onto his side with one hand tucked under his cheek, placing him in the recovery position just in time.

Hatori rubbed slow circles on Shigure's back as he watched his cousin vomit; his own head spinning from his earlier exertion, but his heart, soaring.

Shigure's eyes were closed and he was gasping, but at least he was breathing.

A low, guttural whimper escaped his lips as Shigure tried to speak, but he heaved again, retching dryly.

"Shh. Let it all out," Hatori reprimanded gently. "You're okay. I've got you. You're okay." But despite his relief, he couldn't take his eyes off the blue tinge of Shigure's skin.

Hatori rummaged in the boot of his car. He thanked his lucky stars he was so well equipped and organised; he could open his own hospital if he wished with all the supplies he had stashed in his car. With Akito, he had to be ready for any possibilities.

He found what he needed almost instantly, and he gently lifted his cousin's upper body into a sitting position, propping him up; and a few seconds later, Shigure was breathing in high-flow oxygen through a tight-fitting face mask, with Hatori's arm wrapped around his torso for support.

Hatori's racing heart began to slow down. That's enough adrenaline for one day.

The Dragon closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to calm his nerves. He listened closely to Shigure's breathing; it was rapid, uneven. He needed to get him to the hospital quick.

He unconsciously tightened his grip around Shigure when he felt his cousin start to sag a little.

"Keep breathing, Shigure. Get it all out of your system." Shigure nodded weakly, his face still pale, but his colour was improving.

After what felt like forever, the ambulance finally came.

"What took you so damn long?" Hatori growled. "Ginji-kun?"

The paramedics, one of them a Sohma himself, a distant third or fourth nephew, apologized profusely. "We were just finishing a run. We got here as soon as we could."

Without further delay, the medics started getting down to business, retrieving their gear from the bus and running over to where Hatori and Shigure were. Ginji put on his gloves.

"What happened?" He asked worriedly, as his partner took Shigure's blood pressure. "Shigure-sensei?" Shigure's eyes fluttered open and his forehead furrowed in concentration. Recognition finally flickered in the deep brown orbs and Shigure managed a weak smile.

"Carbon monoxide," Hatori replied curtly, gesturing toward the house. "Gas leak."

Ginji's eyes widened, fixing on the oxygen mask, and the grayish complexion. "How long was he under?"

The Dragon tried to think. "Two minutes...at least. Kept him going on CPR for another three before his heart started again." Hatori listened as the partner rattled off some vitals. He frowned, understanding what the numbers meant.

"The hospital, quickly."

Ginji nodded. "Let's load him up."

"Oi! Hatori!" Hatori's head whipped up. From afar, he could see two figures running toward him. Kyo? He sighed. It was the will of the Gods for this to happen today. And thank the Gods for keeping the children safe. But that didn't mean he was looking forward to telling them what happened.

"What the hell happened?" Kyo demanded, breathing hard, his face red from exertion. He had long since dropped his bag of groceries, ever since he saw the white ambulance parked in front of the house, with the siren light still spinning around in a crazy show of blues and reds. "And why is Shigure like that?"

"Shigure-san!" Tohru approached the stretcher fearfully, her heart beating so fast it was near bursting. Still disoriented, Shigure's eyes brightened slightly. Thank God. He hadn't a single clue what had happened, Hatori said something about a gas leak, but whatever it was, he was so glad he had sent them out on that errand. Thank God.

"Shigure-san...are you alright?" she cried anxiously. Shigure only nodded weakly, giving her hand a light squeeze, his face ghastly pale. He couldn't speak just yet, and not solely due to the goddamn mask covering his face.

Tohru stared at him worriedly. Shigure-san looks so weak, she thought, horrified. _What happened to you, Shigure-san?_

Hatori watched as Ginji loaded his cousin into the ambulance. "Any pain anywhere, Sensei?"

One of Shigure's hands crept slowly up his torso and rested on his chest. Ginji nodded, but he looked worried.

"Oi, Ginji, be careful! Hatori, what's wrong with Shigure? Is he sick or something?" Kyo sounded more pissed than worried. But then again, with him, there was no telling.

"Gas," Hatori snapped.

Both Tohru and Kyo froze.

"Come again?" Kyo asked, not understanding. He had never heard of anyone with gas needing an ambulance before.

"Carbon monoxide. He nearly suffocated to death," Hatori said harshly.

Tohru's eyes went wide. Gas? There was a gas leak?

"Someone left the stove on." The Dragon's eyes had narrowed to dangerous slits. "Which one of you did it?"

Tohru blinked, still in shock. The gas stove? The last time she went into the kitchen was last night...preparing dinner. It couldn't be her, could it? If it had been her, all of them would have died in the night! So who-?

Kyo frowned. "Shigure made breakfast this morning...but that was hours ago! And he was fine when we left him and-" Tohru's mouth fell open.

"Yuki-kun!" She gasped. Was he trapped in the house as well? "Is Yuki-kun alright?"

"Shigure was home alone when I found him. Yuki's gone out." Hatori's back was as stiff as a rod. Bits of his conversation with Shigure started coming back to him. Yuki had been messing around in the kitchen right before he left, Shigure had said. Yuki. It could only be Yuki.

Kyo's eyes were clouded with worry. He watched as Ginji attached something that looked like a giant alligator clip of some kind to the end of Shigure's fingers. The clip flashed beams of red pulsing through his fingertip. "Is he going to be alright?"

Hatori was grim. "I don't know."

"Hatori-ojisan...we're ready to go."

Hatori wanted so badly to go, but he was the only one with a car, and if he were to accompany Shigure to the hospital, there would be no one to take the kids. There was certainly no space for everyone in the bus. And besides, someone had to stay to air the house. And wait for Yuki to come back. His lips thinned.

"Kyo, Honda-kun, both of you go with Ginji-kun. Stay with Shigure." He groped in his pocket for a while.

"Here." He tossed his cell phone to Kyo who caught it with one hand. "Use that to keep in touch. If anything happens, call the house." He hesitated.

"On second thought, call me the second you get there." Hatori reached into the back of the ambulance, and grabbed Shigure's ankle, gripping it threateningly. "Don't you dare go dog on me now, you hear? Wait till I get there, got it?"

Shigure gave a small nod. He was exhausted, and the only thing he wanted to do was sleep.

Kyo climbed in without another word. Tohru however, hesitated a little.

"Hatori-san?" She asked uncertainly.

"Go with them, Honda-kun. I have to air the house out. It's too dangerous to leave it just like that, in case Yuki comes back." Tohru nodded, and took the hand Kyo was holding out, before climbing in.

The double doors slammed shut.

Hatori stood in the middle of the lawn, watching as the ambulance roared away, and faded into nothingness.

He took a deep breath, and counted to ten slowly in his head, trying not to think of the hundreds of different things that could go wrong. The worst was not over. And he was scared shitless.

Get a grip. You'll find out soon enough. There's something else you need to take care of right now.

Right.

Hatori rummaged through the back of his car. Five minutes later, with an oxygen mask securely fitted over his face, Hatori began opening every window, every door, every air vent he could find; switching on all fans at full speed to get the ventilation going, all the while praying that his worst fears wouldn't come true.

* * *

_**Fire and Ice**_

_**Some say the world will end in fire;  
Some say in ice.  
From what I've tasted of desire  
I hold with those who favor fire.  
But if it had to perish twice,  
I think I know enough of hate  
To know that for destruction ice  
Is also great  
And would suffice**_

_(Robert Frost)_

Great. Just great.

Yuki hung his head low and walked slowly toward the front door against which Hatori was leaning, his broad shoulders tense and rigid.

"Let me guess. Shigure called you. And you're here to give me the lecture he thinks I deserve but lacks the self-assertiveness to give himself."

Hatori felt something inside him turn to ice. He now recognised it as anger; he had always thought there was only one kind, the fiery-red one, but apparently this one, this cold fury inside him, worked all the same. The image of Shigure lying on the ground, still and blue, came back to him, and the ice grew. He took a step forward.

"No. I called him."

Yuki lifted an eyebrow. "You were worried I was going to kill the stupid cat?" He shook his head in an almost mocking way, wondering why all the adults in his life were so thick-headed so as not to notice that he, Sohma Yuki, was no longer a little kid they could push around and manipulate all they liked. No, that Yuki was long gone.

He made a move, to try to walk past Hatori to get into the house, but he drew his head back just in time just as the Dragon's arm snaked out with lightning speed, almost striking him in the face.

"What the-" Yuki's head whipped around, his eyes flashing in anger. "Hatori!"

But he was taken aback at the expression on the doctor's face; for the first time in his life, Yuki felt as if he was looking at a different man. Hatori's dark hair had tumbled down his forehead, obscuring both his eyes, but his lips had thinned to a severe, angry...murderous line.

The rat could only watch as the Dragon's dark look deepened, his mouth working but incapable of vocalising the words he seemed to so badly want to say. Yuki couldn't understand why Hatori was so angry.

"I called him." Hatori's voice dripped like acid. "You are so..._lucky_ I called him. Yuki."

"I-I don't understand." Yuki frowned. His cousin was not making any sense. His head snapped up, noticing for the first time the darkened house. No lights. For no one to be home at this hour-did something happen? "Has something happened?"

The pang of fear in Yuki's voice reeled Hatori back to reality; the dark cloud of anger dissipating with each passing second as he stared at his younger cousin with a mixture of awe and regret. And Hatori realised he was not thinking rationally.

Yuki didn't know.

An accident is an accident, nothing more.

For his own words to come back to haunt him like this, it must be a sign. A sign for whom, he hadn't a clue.

"You left the gas stove on, Yuki."

Yuki's frown deepened. Now he was even more confused. "I can't cook to save my life, how could I have-" and it all rushed back to him. Honda-san went out with Kyo...got a bit hungry-He stared at Hatori. The Dragon couldn't possibly be mad at him for forgetting to turn off the stove, people forget all the time...unless-unless-

"Oh God-" He choked, his eyes widening as the impact of Hatori's words sank in. "Did something happen? Is everyone okay?" Yuki frantically threw himself at the older man, sinking his fingers deep into the Dragon's arm. "Was there a fire? Was Honda-san hurt?"

"Hatori, where is everyone?"

If Yuki's grip was hurting him, Hatori didn't show it. "At the hospital."

Yuki's face drained of colour. "W-Who-"

"Honda-kun's fine. She and Kyo were out at the time."

The rat's arms sagged in sheer relief, but a split second later, he froze again. Honda-san...Kyo...what-who am I missing?

"Shigure!" His head whipped up. "What about Shigure? Hatori, is he alright?"

Hatori drew away from him, reluctantly meeting his gaze with a side glance. "I don't know."

Yuki's mouth fell open. "Tell me!"

"He inhaled too much carbon monoxide. It was leaking from the stove." Hatori unconsciously clenched his fists. "Poisoned his blood. I was on the phone with him when he suddenly passed out."

Yuki's throat went dry.

Impossible! He blinked.

It couldn't be a joke. Hatori never joked.

Could it? He frantically grasped at the slim possibility that there was a first time for everything. But the look on Hatori's face...

Shigure...Yuki felt his knees go weak.

"Where've you been?" Hatori crossed his arms. He'd been waiting for more than an hour.

"T-The ah...my garden-" Yuki stuttered, still stunned.

Hatori rubbed his forehead. He was exhausted. "Grab an apple or something, if you're hungry. We're going to the hospital."

Yuki was still staring at him, mute. He shook his head dumbly. His fingers were like ice. And there was a ball of terror forming in the pit of his stomach.

"Get in the car," Hatori ordered. Like a puppet, Yuki stiffly opened the door and slid into the passenger's seat.

_What in the world is going on? _

* * *

"Anyone here for..." A man barely past his mid-twenties stood in the middle of the waiting room, flicking through the clipboard in his hand. "Sohma Shigure?"

Kyo rose so fast the chair almost toppled over, and nearly pummeled the man in the white coat to the ground. "How is he?" He snapped.

"Sohma Shigure, the novelist?"

"Yeah," Kyo said impatiently. Hurry up and take us to him, for God's's sake.

"Are you his relatives?" The tag hanging from his pocket said 'Dr Tachibana Kippei.'

Kyo ignored his question. "Are you his doctor?"

Dr Tachibana drew himself up, lifting his head. "Indeed I am. And you are his...son?" he asked uncertainly. He could only guess, the red-haired kid looked like he could swallow him any moment.

Kyo stared at him. "His cousin. We're his cousins."

"Right. Ah..." Dr Tachibana clipped his pen to his coat, and started to walk down the hallway. "Come with me, please."

They walked past various wards, and Tohru tried not to look around so much for fear of being accused of staring. She had never seen so many sick people in one place at one time in her life; there were old men and women lying comatose in bed, hooked up to gigantic machines...small children in wheelchairs...patients hooked to IVs walking around...nurses and attendants pushing carts up and down the hallway...she didn't like it there. That distinct, strong smell of disinfectant, the smell of sickness, of fear, of _pain_...the scent of death...she never wanted to revisit this scene ever again.

Mother...The blood pulsated behind her eyes, circulating at the back of her head. Her face felt flushed.

She didn't like it there.

"Oi." She looked up. Kyo was still walking, but at a slower pace; and he was staring at her. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing." She shook her head and tried to smile. Kyo looked as if he wanted to say something else, but Dr Tachibana finally stopped in front of a room. It was a private room, and the name Sohma Shigure was emblazoned across the small white board on the door in big bold letters.

"Is Shigure-san...alright?" Tohru asked, her voice small and scared.

"Yeah." Kyo fidgeted restlessly. "Can we see him already?"

"He's stable at the moment...but I have to warn you, he is still quite weak. Best to let him get as much rest as possible." The man's nose twitched. "I assume Sohma-sensei...smokes?"

Kyo frowned. "Yeah. What of it?"

"How many a day, would you say?"

"Err..." He scratched his cheek. "I don't know...uh, a pack a day, maybe? It's not like I keep track or anything. Why? Is something wrong?"

"The pigment in the blood carries oxygen which is then circulated through the body. The gas sticks to the pigment and stops the oxygen from getting into the blood...The effects of the gas however, are much more pronounced in someone who smokes as smokers already have an increased level of the abnormal pigment, the carboxyhaemoglobin in their blood-" the doctor hesitated, wondering if his explanations were too technical for his audience.

"In other words, although Sohma-sensei was exposed to carbon monoxide for only a short while, the amount it takes to poison his blood is relatively less than if it were you or me-" After a beat, he hastily added, as if sensing his elaboration was not getting very far- "-who happens to not smoke. Do you smoke?"

Kyo shook his head, dumbfounded. Did this guy just get out of med school like, yesterday or something?

"Right," he flustered. "I'm sorry. I've been up for the past 18 hours, this is what too much coffee does to me-"

"Yeah, whatever-" Kyo brushed it aside impatiently. He didn't give a damn if the doctor had too much arsenic instead of coffee. All he was concerned about at the moment was Shigure. "Is he going to be alright or not?"

He hesitated again. "At the moment, he's still on high oxygen to displace the effect of the gas from his bloodstream, and we're still waiting for some lab results-I'm just about to carry out some tests at the moment, would you care to observe? I might need help for this purpose from someone who knows Sohma-san well."

That sounds strange. Kyo frowned. "What kind of tests?"

"His cognitive functions. Being under that long might have caused damage to his brain." There was no beating around the bush this time.

Kyo felt as if someone had punched him in the gut. "Brain...damage?"

Tohru's grip around the rail along the hospital corridor tightened involuntarily. This is not happening. This is like a bad dream. And I can't wake up.

"Shall we?" Dr Tachibana opened the door.

* * *

The silence was deafening.

The hum of the engine, that God-awful monotonous droning, was driving Yuki insane.

Hatori was not talking at all. His eyes were fixed on the road, his face like marble.

The ball of ice in Yuki's gut had grown into monstrous proportion, and sheer will was the only thing that was keeping him from developing a full-blown panic attack. Not knowing what was going on, how Shigure was doing, was killing him.

Yuki sank deeper into his seat, the tingling in his fingers and toes conspiring with his palpitating heart to send a chill down his spine. Beads of sweat formed along his hairline.

Kami-sama...He was terrified.

* * *

"It's almost over, Sohma-sensei," the young doctor smiled gently. "Just one last test, alright? And then we'll stop."

Shigure nodded. He was still hooked on oxygen, but at least he was looking a hundred times better than when Kyo saw him last. And good thing too, he had passed almost everything on the neurological exam, from eye movements to motor control and everything. And his memory seemed fine too; Shigure remembered his name, his age, phone number and everything.

Kyo found himself breathing easier now. "Stupid dog. What did you stick your head in the oven for?" He growled, but relief was evident in his eyes.

Shigure shrugged, still not trusting himself to speak, unless he absolutely had too. He hated looking like a weak, day-old kitten in front of everyone, and man, they had dressed him in a horrid plain hospital gown which did not even have a behind! Hatori, you jerk! You could have sent me someplace else! You'd better bring me my yukata or you're a dead duck, he thought darkly. And this thing stuck in his nose, it hurts!

"Now, now, Sohma-kun. We're still not finished." Dr Tachibana slid a note pad and a brand new pencil across the table and wheeled it closer to the middle of the bed where Shigure could reach it, slightly confused as to why Sohma-sensei's younger cousin would call him a dog, of all things. Oh well. Must be some kind of a family thing.

"Right. Now I want you to write your name for me?"

Will all these ridiculous tests ever end? But his doctor was this naive, fresh-faced kid who reminded him so much of Hatori when he first started working as a junior doctor that he just didn't have the heart to even roll his eyes, much less make a face, like he wanted to right now-Shigure gripped the pencil and touched the carbon tip to the pristine white pad.

Tohru, who was sitting on the other side of the bed, noticed the sudden stiffness of his shoulder. She waited for him to start writing.

But Shigure just stared at it, at the pencil in his hand, as if willing it to move.

"Oi. Your name. Start writing," Kyo prodded him.

"Shigure, get on with it! You want to stay here forever? Hurry up so we can get out of here and can get something to eat. I'm starving."

"Shigure-san, what's wrong?" Tohru leaned forward, peering at him, a little concerned. Shigure's eyes were wide open, unblinking.

Every trace of smile had left Dr Tachibana's face. He too, was staring intensely at the pencil in Shigure's hand.

"Oi, Shigure, stop day-dreaming already." Kyo frowned. "What, you forgot how to spell your own name or something?"

The moment the words left Kyo's mouth, Shigure dropped the pencil onto the table like it was burning coal; it rolled to the edge and fell onto his blanket covered lap soundlessly.

The moment the words left Kyo's mouth, Tohru's face drained of colour.

The moment the words left Kyo's mouth,a tense silence fell over the room; dense, stifling.

Shigure hitched in a gasp; his face had gone paper white.

Wh-Wha-How-

He struggled to form words, but the blank pad on the table kept staring at him, the stark whiteness of it blinding, but he couldn't keep his eyes off the black mark the tip of the pencil had left.

The tip of the pencil with which he was supposed to write his name, but couldn't.

* * *

Hatori and Yuki walked silently side by side, heading for Shigure's room. Most of the staff knew Hatori by name; he had worked here for a while a couple of years back, and they trusted him enough to be able to find his own way. Fair enough. The hospital was as usual, bustling with activity; routine, busy, never quiet.

They found it at the very end of a corridor in the east wing, and Hatori was about to knock when the door suddenly flung open, narrowly missing the tip ofhis nose. What the-

Kyo?

The cat's face was a beet-root red, redder than his hair, and his eyes were wild, crazed. Hatori's heart started to pound.

"Kyo, what-" The dragon found himself reeling a few steps back; Kyo had roughly pushed him to the side, and was now glowering at the rat who was standing behind him.

"You bastard!" Kyo hissed. Without warning, he grabbed Yuki's collar and pushed him against the wall, eliciting a yelp from the unsuspecting rat as the back of his skull slammed against the noticeboard behind him.

Hatori saw the murder in his eyes. He leaped in, trying to disentangle the cat's fingers from around Yuki's neck. A few nurses noticed the commotion and started to run toward them.

Kyo couldn't even speak; he was too blinded with red-hot anger, his fingers shaking, but his grip around Yuki's collar unwavering. Tohru appeared at the door, her face stricken with anguish. Hatori struggled to dislodge Kyo's vice-like choke-hold but the cat was too far gone.

"What the hell have you done, Yuki?" Kyo yelled in the nezumi's face and slammed his cousin against the wall again, harder this time. Stars exploded in front of Yuki's eyes.

"Kyo, stop it!" Hatori wrestled with him, but Kyo kept Yuki out of his reach.

"He can't even write his own name!" Kyo's voice was raw with emotions. Upon hearing his words, Hatori froze, every drop of blood leaving his face-

The dragon let go of Kyo's shirt and stalked in the room, forgetting all about Yuki-

"Shigure-" he whispered, his heart pounding so hard he could feel it slam against his ribcage with every beat. "Oh no..."

* * *

Tohru could only watch in horror as Kyo drew his fist back.

"Kyo-kun, stop it!" She cried out pleadingly. "Please, stop!'

But Kyo was beyond reasoning.

* * *

"Sohma-sensei." The young doctor acknowledged him with a grave nod.

He only half-listened as Dr Tachibana rattled off the results of the tests he had carried out and how he thought Shigure was faring. His cousin had sunk back into his bed, his face whiter than his pillow. He was clearly in shock.

"We would like to observe him for a while longer so we will have to keep him overnight. There is no need to panic, there are more tests we can run...could only be a temporary effect...will find out more...agitated...something to help him sleep..." Dr Tachibana's words were lost on him, his eyes drawn to the pencil lying on the floor near the little wheel at the foot of the hospital bed.

Damn it.

Hatori cupped a warm hand around his friend's shoulder and let it stay there, offering the only form of support he was in the position to give at the current moment; he was, after all, family. He was just about to suggest to Dr Tachibana to resume the test after Shigure had had some rest when he realised that his cousin was shaking.

He looked up.

And found two bright, brown eyes staring back at him.

Brimming with tears.

Hatori breathed in sharply.

_Ha-san..._Shigure hitched in a breath, dangerously seconds away from hyperventilating.

Those eyes...seemed to have a life of their own.

_If I can't write...__I have nothing. _

_Nothing._

_**TO BE CONTINUED...**_

**Author's notes:** First of all, thank you to all those who reviewed! You guys are my inspiration-without you, this story would have gotten nowhere. Your wonderful comments and con crit lifted my spirit and made my day.

So there, the third installment-I hope no one's bored yet. I know I'm not. :)

Merry Christmas peeps! And please, please tell me what you think of the story so far!

_Yours truly._

p/s: The alligator clip is actually a pulse oximeter; it consists of a probe attached to the patient's finger or ear lobe and it displays the percentage of Hb saturated with oxygen together with an audible signal for each pulse beat anda calculated heart rate. Hope that clears up some confusion!


	4. Chapter 4

Yuki saw the fist coming; but instead of easily deflecting it like he normally would, he found himself unable to move. From a distant, he heard a scream; Honda-san?

His heart was not even pounding as hard now; it was as if he was accepting everything with all he had. Immobilised, he just squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the blow to land.

It never did.

He opened his eyes. Kyo still had one hand bunched around his collar, but his head was hung low; his long red bangs obscuring the upper portion of his face. His lips...the thin line of his lips...reminded Yuki so much of how Hatori's had been. A lump rose in his throat.

Kyo's other fist was buried in the noticeboard behind him amidst torn pieces of flyers and notices; so close he could feel the heat from the cat's skin graze his temple.

His Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed hard, a line of sweat rolling slowly down the curve of his neck. Yuki let go of Kyo's shirt as if it was burning coal, his arms falling limply to his side.

"Hit me," he whispered.

Tohru was weeping openly now, unable to do anything but watch.

"What are you waiting for?" Yuki's shaking voice rose a notch, but there was an edge to it; he was not challenging Kyo to do it. He was begging. He raised his fists and grabbed Kyo's shirt again, rocking him back and forth violently. "Hit me, come on!"

A male nurse tried to pull them apart, but they were inseparable.

"What, are you _scared?_" Yuki yelled in his face, his eyes wild and crazed. Feverishly, he grabbed Kyo's fist from the side of his head and tried to make it move, flailing it around. "Do it! You wanted payback, right?"

"You damn bastard!" Kyo yelled back. No matter how angry he was, he could see through Yuki's act. He slapped Yuki's hand away and bunched his fist around a clump of silver hair, pulling the rat's head forward until they were mere centimetres away face-to-face. Yuki winced in pain.

"I don't give a damn about you, Yuki. I never have and I never will," Kyo hissed, his eyes burning crimson in anger. "If you want someone to hit you so badly, ask Shigure to do it. Don't expect _me _to make you feel better after what you did."

With that said, Kyo threw him one last, disgusted look, pushed him away and stalked off.

Tohru tried to grab his elbow as he marched past, but he shook her hand off. "Don't touch me!"

Kyo ignored her cry of distress, knowing full well he was going to regret it later. But he couldn't help himself; this burning, raging fire inside seemed to devour every fibre of his being. He couldn't remember ever being this angry. Angry enough not to hit Yuki when he so deserved to be hit.

He walked on with no clue whatsoever as to where he was going; he just let his feet lead the way.

He had to get away. Anywhere but here.

* * *

"Yuki-kun..." Tohru dropped on her knees next to him on the floor. She wanted so badly to reach out, to wrap her arms around him, to ease his fears-If only she could. If only.

"Honda-san..." His voice broke.

She grabbed one of his hands and held it against her knee. His fingers were icy cold.

"I'm a bad person," he whispered finally.

She shook her head anxiously. "No, you're wrong. You're not. I know you're not."

"You must hate me." Yuki banged the back of his head over and over again lightly against the wall, his eyes dull, empty.

She shook her head again. She wished she knew just what to say; but she couldn't even begin to imagine how distraught Yuki must be feeling right now. So she did the only thing she could. She sat with him.

And when Yuki's head dropped forward in a gesture of defeat against his emotions...she grabbed it with both hands and placed it on her shoulder; his forehead burning hot against her bare skin. Yuki closed his eyes as her smooth hand raked through his hair, realizing with a jolt how much he had needed this, the touch of another human hand-

How do I say it, Honda-san? His eyes burned, but he still couldn't get the words out.

How do I say I'm sorry?

* * *

"There may have been a slight damage to parts of his cerebral cortex-"

"But his speech seems fine," Hatori murmured. "The Broca's still intact then."

"It might seem so..." Dr Tachibana appeared troubled. "It could just be a temporary deficit to his language area though, seeing how he can still speak and understand spoken words, but not written ones. A mild degree of aphasia perhaps. Word blindness."

Word blindness. An inability to understand written words.

"Are you sure it's that? It could be a cerebellar problem. He may not be able to coordinate his fingers for fine control needed to write instead," Hatori insisted. "Can he still read? Have you tested him?"

Dr Tachibana shook his head. "I was planning to do that next but..." He glanced in through the glass window partially obscured by the curtain.

The younger man drew himself up and forced a smile. "Well, you know what they say, Sohma-sensei...we have to remain optimistic! I suggest we wait until tomorrow at least to determine the extent of the damage further. For all we know, it could just be shock, and that he'd recover in no time. That has happened, I believe."

Hatori gave him a look. How naive. He wondered if he was like this when he first started out working. Must be nice to think that good things happen more often than the bad. But a part of him wanted so badly to agree with the other doctor. Think positive. Think positive.

Right.

He left the young doctor standing in the middle of the hallway and pushed the door open. The light in the room had been dimmed, casting huge shadows across the lone figure lying quietly on the bed.

Silently he dragged a chair across the carpeted floor and brought it next to the bed. His cousin was curled up in a fetal position, his arms wrapped around himself.

Shigure had been so frightened.

But he seemed calmer now; he was breathing easier, and his heart rate had gone down to normal level. Guess the excitement had been too much for him; the sedatives seemed to be working like a charm. He didn't know how wrong he was.

Hatori sat down.

A sniff. Then a hoarse whisper. "Not so close. You smell."

"Your fault I ran around so much today." A smile graced his friend's boyish features, his eyes still closed. He owed Hatori so much.

"Dangerous to leave the stove in the house when there's a leak." A huge yawn.

"I took care of it."

"The kids?" Shigure mumbled slowly.

"Around here somewhere. Don't worry about them."

"They must be bored out of their minds," his cousin smiled. He felt as if he was floating in the air.

Hatori grunted. "Right now I'd worry more about Kyo strangling the life out of Yuki, but I'm sure someone would page me if he succeeded."

"They're still fighting...about Tohru-kun?"

Hatori stopped blinking.

Shigure didn't know.

No one told him.

God Almighty.

"Just sleep," he commanded gruffly. "Talk about it later."

Shigure yawned again. "Okay..."

But a second later, a small frown lined Shigure's forehead.

"Why...is Kyo the one doing the strangling?" Kyo was the one who pushed Tohru down the stairs, right? Or was it the other way around? Another strong wave of drowsiness hit him. It was getting harder to think straight.

Hatori could only glare at him. He knew Shigure was sharp, and nothing ever escaped him, unless he was doing it on purpose, but come on!

There was no going around it this time. Hatori was too tired to make up stories anyway. "Yuki was the one who left the stove on."

He regretted the moment the words left his mouth as two brown eyes flickered open instantly.

"An accident," Hatori clarified. He clasped his hands in his lap.

Shigure was staring at him, as if daring him to say that it wasn't the truth. But he knew his cousin seldom lied.

His lips stretched to a thin line. The frown on his forehead disappeared, leaving only a thoughtful look on his face, his mind working over this new, horrible information despite the sheer amount of sedatives pumping through his vein.

Hatori wondered if he should just punch the guy's lights out because the drugs were obviously not working; but he was suddenly put to ease when without prompting, Shigure closed his eyes and buried his cheek deeper into his pillow, his breaths controlled and rhythmic, as if he was consciously concentrating on the act of breathing.

Ten minutes later, Hatori finally gave up on playing along.

"Stop pretending to be asleep, you jackass," He growled. "If you think you can fool me, think twice."

"Ne, Ha-san."

"What?" Hatori sounded more than a little pissed now.

His eyes still closed, Shigure reached out a hand and groped for the front of Hatori's shirt. The Dragon looked on with utter confusion but he let the dog bunch his fist around a clump of his collar and pull him closer toward the bed. The first thought that came to mind was that his cousin wanted to kiss him, but that was just...not funny, even for Shigure, even for a _doped-up _Shigure...so that couldn't be it.

"What is it?"

Shigure couldn't open his eyes anymore, they were too heavy. But before he gave in to the tempting prospect of a dreamless, painless slumber, he knew he needed to say what he needed to say. He brought Hatori's face closer to his until his lips brushed lightly against his earlobe.

No one saw how Hatori's face changed, how it darkened, as he strained to listen, as Shigure whispered something in his ear. He was barely coherent, but Hatori knew he meant each and every word.

Sheer will was the only thing keeping his face from crumpling. All he could do to will the pain in his heart away was to close his eyes. And that was what he did.

"I understand."

* * *

Hatori stepped out quietly from the room. He stared for a moment at the figure sitting on the cold floor, hunched double outside the door.

Speak of the devil. He was wondering where the kid had run off to, and now here he was.

Yuki lifted his head as a huge, dark shadow loomed over him.

Hatori was looking down at him, an indecipherable expression on his face. Yuki couldn't read his eyes no matter how he tried, but quickly decided that maybe it was better that way. Every look, every fleeting glance, every glare sent his way was a stab to the heart.

The Dragon scrutinised his younger cousin's face. No bruises, no cuts, no swelling. He didn't know if he should be relieved or worried.

"Where are the others?"

It took him a while to answer. Hatori didn't sound angry. "I don't know."

Hatori was silent for a minute. Then he turned around and started to walk away. "Come on. Let's go find them. Then I'm taking you guys home."

Yuki shook his head slowly. "I'm staying."

Hatori stopped in his tracks. But he didn't turn around.

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

Yuki's face drained of colour. But he was adamant.

"I don't care. I'm staying."

Hatori seemed to push himself up straighter, his back ram-rod straight, his shoulders rigid. "Suit yourself." Then he walked away. The second person to do that to him tonight.

Yuki cupped both hands over his face, the feel of his icy fingers against his burning skin so salient it was impossible to convince himself he was merely dreaming.

He didn't know what to do. He didn't know where to start. And the only person he could have asked for such advice was now lying in a hospital bed hooked up to machines, and possibly permanently disabled. All because of him.

Tears threatened to spill, but he held them in. Inside however, he was crying.

What do I do?

* * *

Hatori stopped by the nurses' station. "Have you seen two kids walking around here, one a red-haired boy-"

"The other a sweet-looking girl?" The curly-haired nurse guessed. She pointed in the direction of the cafetaria.

A curt, "Thanks." He was about to walk away when he hesitated.

"Could you possibly send a cot to Sohma Shigure's room? Room 224?" He asked. "One family member is staying tonight."

"No problem, Dr Sohma." The nurse smiled in sympathy. "I hope your cousin gets well soon."

Hatori just nodded. He wished for the same thing too, but if wishes were trees, he would have an arboretum by now.

Shigure's last words rang in his ear and his face turned to stone.

Yuki, I hope you know what you're doing.

* * *

**_"Shigure-niisan," A small, unfamiliar voice interrupted his train of thoughts; and for a second there Shigure thought he was hearing things; he'd gotten so used to having the whole house to himself, he had almost forgotten about the recent addition to the household. He glanced at the door, and his face immediately broke into a smile._**

**_"Ara! Yuki-kun!" He put down his pen. He gestured for the boy to come in, noting how his a-little-too-big pyjamas hung off his frail shoulders, almost swallowing him whole. "You're still awake?" _**

**_Shigure frowned at the clock on his desk. That can't be right. "It's three o'clock in the morning. What's the matter? Can't sleep?"_**

**_Yuki stepped uncertainly into the spacious study; this was the first time he'd ever been in Shigure-niisan's workplace, he would have preferred not to disturb him in any way if he could help it, but...His bare feet skidded to a stop a few feet away from Shigure's cluttered desk. He smelled of cigarettes...of leather-bound books...of ink...of fresh, crisp newspaper. He liked it._**

**_A cough rose in Yuki's throat but he suppressed it. It was an unusually cold night, and cold nights were always the roughest. He wouldn't want to get sick the first day he moved into the house. Wouldn't want to overstay his welcome._**

**_"Yuki-kun? Is there something you need?" Shigure tried to remember what it was like when he was Yuki's age, which seemed like seven lifetimes ago. Oh right! There's that one thing growing boys always seem to need- "Are you hungry?" _**

**_Yuki shook his head slowly. He disguised the irritating tickle in his chest by clearing his throat. "Do you think you could spare me a..." He hesitated a little, "-blanket?"_**

**_Shigure's face softened. "Oh, you poor thing...you must be freezing!" The super-thick literature journal he had been using as a reference fell unceremoniously off his lap as he climbed to his feet, wincing at the cramps which had settled in his thighs and knees from sitting cross-legged too long. The cigarette dangling from his lips burnt crimson at the tip. _**

**_"It does tend to get pretty cold around here, especially your room, I purposely pushed the ceiling higher up so that it helps with ventilation, but unfortunately it makes the temperature drop outrageously low sometimes. Sorry bout that," Shigure finished with an apologetic smile. "Come, let's get you a blanket. Can't have you turning into a human popsicle now, can we?" _**

**_His shoulder brushed past Yuki on his way out, and the sudden whiff of noxious cigarette smoke assaulted his olfactory receptors, resulting in a chain of dry coughs._**

**_Shigure's eyes widened. Oh shit!_ _He forgot! Hatori would kill him if he found out! He wasn't supposed to smoke when Yuki was around! He plucked the half-smoke off his lips and crushed it in his fist, snuffing it out hastily, ignoring the burning pain searing through his palm. "Sorry! Are you alright?"_**

**_'Fine." Yuki waved a dismissive hand, letting out the last of a small cough. "It's not you, it's just the cold."_**

**_Shigure nodded in relief; he quickly rummaged through the storage cabinet out in the middle of the hallway, which, Yuki noted with a degree of amusement, was so disorganised and messy an elephant could crawl in there and hide and noone would find it. But of course, one should always be familiar with one's own mess, and Shigure found what he was looking for in a heartbeat._**

**_"Here you go!" He beamed triumphantly, thrusting a heavy, woolen quilt which smelt curiously of honeysuckles and cinnamon into his arms. "That should keep you warm and toasty. Oh here, take this extra pillow as well! And this hot water bottle too, just for fun! Ara, I didn't know I had a spare food processor in here! Goodie, now we can make smoothies! Do you like smoothies, Yuki-kun? Here, wear these socks, they're thicker than Kyo-kun's head, they'll keep your feet warm-"_**

**_Yuki blinked. His first impression of Shigure had been that the dog Jyuunishi was lively by nature, but at three o'clock in the morning? If he didn't know better, he would have thought his older cousin was high on something. He wrinkled his nose in distaste at the thought of wearing Kyo's stupid head on his feet. But then again, that wasn't exactly a bad place for it to be, he snickered inward evilly. _**

**_A half hour later..._**

**_Damn. That kid's still coughing. _**

**_Shigure drummed his fingers against the table, antsy. He wondered what he should do._**

**_Another chain of uncontrollable, hacking coughs shook the partition separating Yuki's room and his study. Shigure winced. They sounded nothing like normal coughs. And painful too._**

**_He couldn't stand it anymore. Bad enough the kid was interrupting his train of thoughts every few minutes, but to sit around doing nothing about it was an injustice to his conscience._**

**_"Yuki-kun...?" He knocked lightly on the door. "May I come in?"_**

**_No answer. He slid it open anyway. _**

**_The figure on the bed was shivering visibly despite the thick double layers of duvet; the whole bed shaking as Yuki coughed again, his eyes squeezed shut as if in pain, beads of perspiration dotting his forehead in a collage of moisture despite the sudden drop of temperature. To Shigure's alarm, the rat seemed to be struggling to breathe._**

**_An asthma attack? He rushed toward the bed._**

**_"Yuki-kun, wake up," he said urgently, shaking Yuki's shoulder; but the boy was dead to the world. His wheezing was scaring the wits out of him._**

**_What the hell do I do now? The kid obviously can't breathe. Shigure hastily rummaged through the wardrobe where Yuki kept all his medication. Inside the box he found what he was looking for, and his eyes lit up! But a second later, they clouded again._**

**_There were two inhalers, one blue, one brown. _**

**_Which one did Hatori say he was supposed to administer in the case of an attack? _**

**_He glanced at Yuki; the boy could barely breathe, much less be coherent enough to tell him which one was to be given._**

**_He studied the two dispensers closely, his forehead lined with worry. Blue or brown? Or both?_**

**_Hatori wouldn't appreciate him calling in the middle of the night, any other time Shigure would think nothing of it and phone him anyway; but it was just his luck Hatori had gone on a special three-day course on advanced palliative care or something or other and was a good four hours' drive away-_**

**_Great. Yuki's wheezing was getting worse._**

**_A lightbulb suddenly flickered to life in his head. Shigure, you idiot! _**

**_He ran to his study and rifled through his extensive book collection; Ah! Here it is! Here it is! He frantically flipped through the First Aid Manual for the usual do's and don'ts-_**

**_Right. Asthma. Hmm. He scrutinised the content of the page. _**

**Number 1- Keep calm and reassure the casualty. Get him to take a puff of the reliever inhaler.**

**_Whoa, back up. Which one is the reliever inhaler? His eyes scanned the very top introductory paragraph. _**

**'Most reliever inhalers have blue caps.'**

**_Ahah! It's the bue one!_**

**_He frowned, scratching the back of his head. What's the brown one for then? Oh. That one's the preventer and 'not an effective treatment for attacks'. Okay. Now I get it. Blue one it is then._**

**_Heh. _'Cigarette smoke is a recognised trigger for an attack.' _Right. Rub it in some more, why don't you?_**

**_He rushed back to Yuki's room, the manual tucked reverently in the crook of his elbow, a finger hooked securely through the page he had just dog-eared. _**

**_"Yuki-kun...come on, sit up," Shigure said in a loud voice to see if he could wake him up. "You shouldn't be lying down."_**

**_He slipped a strong arm under and around Yuki's back and gently lifted him up, wincing at the sweat soaking through the ailing boy's pyjama top. Yuki's head lolled, his breath whistling painfully through his obstructed airway and past his slightly bluish lips. Shigure gave him a little shake._**

**_"Yuki. Wake up." Dull violet eyes struggled to open. _**

**_Shigure pulled the top off the blue inhaler and placed it in Yuki's palm. "Here, take a puff. It'll make you feel better."_**

**_Yuki blinked languidly. Shigure helped him raise his hands to press it against his lips. _**

**_Like a man who'd suddenly found water in the middle of a hot, scorching desert, Yuki hungrily blasted a dose into his mouth. With his arm still supporting Yuki, Shigure brushed damp silver bangs from the boy's clammy forehead and cheeks with his other hand so stray strands of hair wouldn't get in the way of the inhaler._**

**_The manual says to ask the casualty to breathe slowly and deeply._**

**_"Breathe slowly and deeply," he instructed matter-of-factly, purposely making it sound as if he knew what he was saying._**

**_Yuki nodded, his eyes closed. He took another puff, his fingers stronger now as he blasted the dose._**

**_Like magic, Yuki's noisy wheezing ceased. He was breathing normally now, albeit a little more deeply, but the worst had obviously passed. _**

**_"Feeling better?"_**

**_Yuki nodded, the inhaler still clenched in his grip. And soon he was asleep again, his chest rising and falling normally, not like how it was just a few minutes ago. _**

**_Shigure heaved a sigh of relief. What would everyone say if the kid had choked to death the first night he moved in? He would never hear the end of it. He grabbed a blanket and a pillow from his own room; thinking he should just crash on Yuki's floor just in case his asthma started up again. It was strange, having to take care of another person; the sense of responsibility that came with it...he liked it. It made him feel important, in a way. _**

**_He smiled to himself as he lay down on the freezing floor next to bed. _**

**_Good night, Yuki-kun._**

And that was how Yuki found him the next morning; lying flat out with one half of his body poking out from under the bed, the First Aid manual still tightly hugged to his chest as if refusing to let go even in sleep.

The nurses had made him get up off the floor, and marched him straight into Shigure's room. He couldn't have found the courage otherwise. He could see the unspoken questions in their eyes, they were probably wondering how this sweet-looking, handsome boy who belonged on the cover of a magazine could have such sad, clouded eyes-

God only knew what stopped them from gathering him in their bosoms and squeezing him tight.

Shigure was already fast asleep, thank God for that. Tongue-tied, he wouldn't have known what to say if he weren't.

Just like that night, when Shigure stayed awake till morning just to listen to him breathe...Yuki was doing the same.

The cot was only a few feet away from the hospital bed, but Yuki was shaking in fear at the sheer closeness of it. Through misty vision, he tried to make out Shigure's features; the dark rings circling his eyes, the tight pursing of his lips, the sickly hue of his sunken cheeks. He had aged. In a matter of hours.

They told him his cousin nearly died.

His eyes watered.

Yuki draped an arm over his head and sobbed quietly.

* * *

Kyo and Tohru appeared at the door first thing in the morning. No one was more surprised than Kyo to see the rat curled up on the small cot next to Shigure's bed, caught in a restless sleep. It took Hatori more than five minutes to shake him awake, but when he did finally open his eyes, it took Yuki less than five seconds to meet Kyo's icy glare, gather up his clothes and follow Hatori out the door.

Tohru was the only one who made an effort to even talk to him. "Yuki-kun..."

Yuki just gave her a sad look and left.

Kyo stood stiffly in the middle of the room, just staring at Shigure who was still deep in sleep. Tohru pulled two chairs close together and pulled his hand down to sit. They didn't speak, the only sound breaking the silence was the occasional beeping of the someone's pager out in the hallway.

"I'm a bit thirsty," Tohru announced a half hour later. She rose to her feet. "I'm going to get us some drinks. What would you like, Kyo-kun?"

"Hmm?" Kyo tore his eyes away from the bruises on Shigure's exposed forearm where they had drawn some blood. "Uh, a Ponta."

"I'll be right back, Shigure-san," she said softly so she wouldn't wake him up. Kyo watched her leave, her long hair swaying down her back as she walked out. He felt sorry for her. She wasn't even a Sohma, but she had been sucked into the whole Sohma drama anyway.

"Oi. How long do you plan on sleeping anyway?" He muttered under his breath, resisting the urge to poke Shigure's face with his pinkie. "Wake up already."

"Everyone's walking around the house looking like a zombie because of you."

But Shigure remained fast asleep, his chest rising and falling gently with each breath. He looked so peaceful now.

But Kyo remembered how terrified, how stunned he had been last night. He couldn't even begin to imagine what Shigure must be feeling right now, if he were awake. Grief? Anger? Denial?

Kyo could only guess. He breathed in deeply. When he saw Yuki this morning, he had felt a pang of pity in the pit of his stomach. How does it feel, to know that you've nearly killed someone? Not just anybody, but your own flesh and blood? He opened his eyes.

Guess you and I are in the same boat now, Yuki. The only difference? I've been forgiven.

* * *

"Honda-kun said she has left some food for you in the microwave. Make sure you eat it. You didn't have dinner last night."

Yuki only nodded mutely.

Hatori stared at him from the driver's seat. The boy looked terrible, there were dark rings around his puffy, bloodshot eyes and his face was so pale and distraught he looked as if he was about to cry. In fact, he did look like he'd been crying.

Hatori's hands tightened unconsciously around the steering wheel.

"Get some rest, Yuki. I'll be back to get you later tonight."

Yuki nodded again.

After a beat, Hatori added. "Call me if you need anything."

Without a word, Yuki turned and walked into the house. Yuki...

Hatori drove away, but his thoughts were still on his young cousin.

Be strong, Yuki.

* * *

**_Shigure sniffed. His sense of smell had its good days and bad days, depending on the phase of the moon (or some other romantic zodiac-related signalling mechanism, it wasn't as if he had a clue) but this particular scent...he wouldn't miss it from miles away. His nose wrinkled. _**

**_He brought the grocery bag closer to his face and inhaled. No, it's not from the meat. Shigure tilted his head heavenward and sniffed again. He was sure of it. This blood...smells human. _**

**_After depositing the groceries in the kitchen, Shigure slowly walked up the stairs, following the scent; the trail finally leading to Kyo's room. A little worried, he slid the door open and poked his head in._**

**_"Kyo-kun?" The cat spirit was hunched in one corner of his room; his back to him, his face buried in the forearms propped on his knees._**

**_"Kyo-kun, are you alright?" The smell was so strong now Shigure could almost taste the coppery twang of blood on his tongue._**

**_"Fine," Kyo groused, still not lifting his head. "Leave me alone."_**

**_He was lying. Shigure marched in and reached down, grabbing his shoulder. On automated reflex, Kyo jerked and tried to swat the hand away, but the grip was there to stay._**

**_"How badly are you hurt?" _**

**_Kyo stiffened. How did he know?_**

**_"You're kinda bleeding all over the place. Hard to miss," the older man said dryly. "Bloodstains are hard to get out, you know."_**

**_Kyo turned around slowly. A three-inch gash over his left eye extending to his temple, almost obscured by the sheer amount of blood caking pretty much most of one side of his face, stared back at Shigure in all its glorious goriness. He winced involuntarily, his stomach turning._**

**_"That's...going to leave one hell of a scar," he said casually, finally. _**

**_"You think?" Kyo growled._**

**_Shigure smirked. "It matches your hair though. Pretty isn't it? All that blood."_**

**_"You think this is funny?"_**

**_His cousin nodded happily._**

**_"You're so creepy."_**

**_Shigure tsk-tsked. He walked to the small chest of drawers next to the window, where he kept the First-Aid kit. "I'm not even going to ASK how you got that." _**

**_"Then don't."_**

**_"How did you get it?" _**

**_"Grrr!"_**

**_"I make one call and not only will you get a mighty scolding from Ha-san, you can be certain of the sheer number of stitches and injections he's going to inflict on you. And I'm not going to help, I'm just gonna stand there watching in glee and enjoying it while it lasts, for he would no doubt tear into me after that for letting you bleed all over my carpet and not doing anything, when it wasn't even my fault to begin with-"_**

**_"Rocks." Jeez, his head hurt even worse now._**

**_Shigure's eyes grew as big as saucers. "Yuki's throwing stones now?" He crouched down in front of the injured boy._**

**_Kyo made a face. "Please. Bad enough the sissy rat pulls most of his punches back like a girl-stone-throwing would be more his style...but no, he didn't do this to me." He watched Shigure put on a pair of disposable gloves, and frowned._**

**_"What the hell do you think you're doing?"_**

**_"Making paper cranes for blind children in Burma. What does it look like I'm doing?" Shigure rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "Hold still."_**

**_Using a dampened, clean piece of cloth, Shigure grabbed Kyo's chin none too gently to hold his head in place as he wiped the area around the wound, scrubbing a little to try to get the flakes of dry blood and dirt off. It took all Kyo had not to wince; he gritted his teeth instead. This is embarassing. Like, totally._**

**_"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" He muttered through clenched teeth. _**

**_A distracted, "Hmm?"_**

**_Kyo hissed when Shigure poked a little too hard at the cut. "Ow!"_**

**_Shigure frowned, but said nothing. He peered closely at the wound. "Either it was a ridiculously large boulder of a rock...or someone bashed your face at the same place over and over again. What did you say happen again?"_**

**_Kyo snorted derisively. "I didn't say."_**

**_Unfazed, Shigure just patted the wound dry with a gauze swab, pressing a little harder than necessary. "Oops! Have to dry your cut! Have to make it really, really dry!"_**

**_"Okay, okay!" Kyo jerked his head back. "Jeez!" He glared at his older cousin out of one eye. If he thought this was embarassing, wait till Shigure found out what happened._**

**_Kyo's eyeballs rolled upward and fixed on the ceiling. He sniffed loudly. "Bumped into some girls. Did a little morphing. Did a little running. Got a little stoned. End of story."_**

**_"Which girls? Where? By whom? Start again," Shigure dead-panned._**

**_Kyo gave an exaggerated sigh of exasperation. "Some girls at the school gate on the way back home. Took a shortcut through the bushes at the playground. Some kids saw me, started pelting me with rocks."_**

**_A low snicker. A few seconds later, it turned into a barely-suppressed giggle. The next thing he knew, his cousin was rocking back and forth, mad with hysterical laughter._**

**_"You-you ARE-haha-a teeny weeeny little-haha-kitty-haha-HA-"_**

**_Kyo's ears burned. He told himself to wait for at least 5 seconds before giving in to the itching desire to strangle his cousin, but he only lasted till 3. With a snarl, he leaped forward._**

**_As if on remote control, Shigure's laughter died so abruptly it left an echo in the air. "Did they see you transform?" He asked seriously, oblivious to Kyo's hands coming to a complete freeze a mere inch from his neck._**

**_Kyo forgot all about the strangling plan and looked thoughtful. Then he shook his head, immediately regretting it when a shard of pain stabbed through his temple. "I ran off so fast I actually thought I left my eyeballs behind."_**

**_"And yet you couldn't dodge a rock," Shigure teased. "Well. Whatever it is...we should just patch you up for now, and let Ha-san take a closer look at it later. The fact that you're alive and talking and making lame jokes has brought such relief to this old man's heart-" A dramatic hand on the chest, "-unless you absolutely feel like dying, and would give an arm and leg for an ambulance, a priest and a smoothie? Or better yet, Ha-san? Coz the food processor isn't quite working right now."_**

**_Kyo blinked. "You're so creepy."_**

**_Shigure gasped. "I just had a pang of dejavu! I could swear over my future grave that I've heard you say the exact words before, in this very room, in this exact setting!"_**

**_"That's because I did say it twice," Kyo seethed. He watched Shigure pinch some sterile dressing from its packaging. Kyo braced himself for what was about to come, but the older man was surprisingly gentle, pressing the pad against the wound before tearing off a long piece of adhesive tape and sticking it across the white square. A few seconds later, Kyo was sporting a large butterfly bandage over his eye._**

**_"There. All better," Shigure said in satisfaction. He cleaned the mess up and put everything to one side._**

**_Kyo gingerly touched his patched-up head, expecting the bandage to fall off any second. It didn't. Secure and neatly applied. Surprisingly. "You're pretty good at this."_**

**_Shigure smirked. He stood up and loosened his tie. "Ha-san grew tired of having to do it for me all the time so he just taught me how to do it myself. I was a liiiiitle clumsy myself when I was your age...well, not as clumsy as you-" he shrugged, pretending not to see the glare, "-but, what are scars if not memoirs of a lively, fulfilled childhood right?"_**

**_"Deranged is more like it," Kyo muttered. _**

**_"You should be more careful, Kyo-kun!" Shigure scolded good-naturedly. "Your first week at school and you're already bumping into people, you clumsy ahou!"_**

**_"It's your fault for sending me there in the first place!"_**

**_"Really, Kyo-chan, between bears and girls...you prefer going back to the bears?" A vein popped on Kyo's other temple._**

**_"Wait a minute, maybe you're not interested in girls! Ah, that must be it!" Shigure waggled his finger as-a-matter-of-factly. "You naughty, naughty boy...hiding it from all of us-I didn't know you swing that way!"_**

**_"Argh! Will you please just get out of here? You're driving me mad!"_**

**_"Haaai, hai!" Shigure grabbed his coat from off the floor. "But seriously, you have to learn to be more flexible! Like me! If someone comes at you from the right, what you do is you swing your hip graaacefully to the left-" he demonstrated, throwing his lean body to the side in a fluid motion, "-if someone comes at you from the left, well, you swiiiing to the right-"_**

**_I can't believe this. I'm stuck. I'm stuck here in this house, with this-this freak-_**

**_"And if someone comes at you from ALL directions, well, simple-" Then he did the most unexpected thing in the world._**

**_He tipped on the point of his toe and with amazing ease, spun his tall, slender form in a full, 360 degrees turn. A perfect pirouette. _**

**_ .god. "What the...hell was that?" _**

**_Wah! If he hadn't looked so stupid and ridiculous...Kyo would have been impressed._**

**_Shigure raked a hand through his unruly black hair, looking mighty pleased with himself. "Please, don't look so mesmerised! You're making me blush here-"_**

**_"Shigure..." That just confirmed it. That amazing balance. Shigure was definitely not under the influence of alcohol._**

**_"Hmm?"_**

**_"You're being insufferably hyper-giddy today, even more than usual. And you're obviously not drunk." Kyo's eyes narrowed. "Did someone die and leave you a country or something?"_**

**_"Even better! We're having a barbecue tonight!" Shigure grinned, giving him a thumbs-up sign. "A party!"_**

**_"A party?" Kyo's forehead wrinkled. "What party?"_**

**_"A welcoming party."_**

**_"A welcoming party? For who?"_**

**_Shigure gave him a withering duh-isn't-it-obvious look. "For you, of course!"_**

**_"For me?"_**

**_"Who else? And stop repeating my words like a moron."_**

**_Kyo was silent. "Why would you throw a party for me?"_**

**_"Because you just broke the Guinness world record for the clumsiest cat on earth?" Shigure winked. "To welcome you into the house, why else? To celebrate yet another not-so-wonderful, but marginally tolerable addition to the household!"_**

**_A moment of awkward silence. _**

**_A grudging sniff. "Don't trouble yourself. No one's going to come anyway."_**

**_"Ah, how mistaken you are, Kyo-chan!" Shigure tsk-tsked. "In fact, most everybody I called has promised to come! Let's see...there's Ha-san...'Sa-chan, Hi-kun, Ha-kun...I'm not sure if Aaya can make it...but Momichi and Rit-chan are coming as well! Although I think they're just looking forward to some mouthwatering barbequed ribs-but don't you worry! You're our guest of honor so I'll make sure you get the best piece of meat. Deal?"_**

**_"I bet you said that to everybody to get them to come," Kyo snickered. "We all know you'll keep the good bites to yourself!"_**

**_Shigure laughed. "You know me too well..." He leaned down to whisper something in his ear._**

**_"And Kagu-chan said she can't WAIT to see you."_**

**_Kyo's eyes nearly popped. "WHAT! What the hell did you call her for! Baka inu!"_**

**_"Juuuust kidding!" The older man patted his shoulder. "Now, now, don't get too excited! Ahhh, it's soo nice to see two young people madly in love, who just go mental at the mention of each other's name..."_**

**_Kyo buried his head in his hands and moaned loudly. "Shigure, you're killing me here!"_**

**_The dog spirit flashed him a white, toothy grin. "I'm so happy you're here, Kyo-kun. It's so nice to have someone to torture other than Yuki-kun. You're such a good sport. Hehe." As if he was finally taking some pity on his injured cousin, Shigure headed for the door._**

**_"Get some rest. I'll wake you up just in time for the party," he said kindly._**

**_One of Kyo's eyes peeked through the crevices of his fingers._**

**_He was not used to anyone being so...nice._**

**_"I've got blood all over the carpet."_**

**_"Don't worry about it."_**

**_"I'll clean it later." _**

**_"Don't bother."_**

**_"What kind of person would bleed all over someone else's house and not clean it up?"_**

**_"It's the same blood," Shigure answered vaguely. Kyo just looked at him, confused._**

**_Shigure just smiled. "Yours and mine."_**

**_Silence._**

**_Kyo thought of his mom, who was never willing to accept him as he truly was despite the countless times the words 'I love you' passed through her lips...he thought of Master Kazuma, the great father figure who was no longer around...When they parted, Kyo had thought he'd be forced to learn to stand on his own two feet, learn to be his own man even when it still wasn't time-_**

**_And now, there was Shigure, who he barely knew, save for the occasional Jyuunishi gatherings and New Year's celebrations...and of course the numeruos times he'd dropped in to say 'hello ala Kyo' (read, to kick one's ass) to Yuki...he knew almost nothing of him or his family. A sick, perverted flirt...but a harmless one nonetheless._**

**_For someone who couldn't even hug a woman...for a man to dream such dreams for 27 years...How sad. He guessed the only person who could truly understand Shigure was Shigure himself._**

**_Yours and mine._**

**_Maybe, just maybe...living with his cousin wouldn't turn out to be so bad after all._**

**_"Stupid dog."_**

**_A small, cheerful laugh. "Good night."_**

He remembered that day like it was yesterday. It had been a great party, even Yuki had been civil to him that night. Although Shigure never did keep his promise, giving all the big pieces of ribs to Hatori instead; the Dragon nearly chewed his head off for not calling him the moment he found that Kyo was hurt. A head injury was not a grazed knee, the family doctor had hollered at Shigure. Good thing the cut on his head worked in Shigure's favor, it wasn't that deep so he wouldn't have needed stitches; but poor Shigure, having had to butter Hatori up with extra meat, leaving almost none for himself.

Kyo studied Shigure's sleeping face. So many lines...on such a young face.

Kyo's ears burned. What the hell am I doing? Staring at another man, who was not only sleeping and oblivous to such invasion of his privacy, but was also his cousin? I don't do mush! He grabbed one of the leaflets sticking out from Tohru's seat and buried his face in it, feeling his face go red.

"Kyo-kun." Did he just imagine it or did Shigure really call his name? He put the leaflet down and his eyes widened. He's finally awake!

"I've always known you were a girl, but do you really have to tell it to everybody?" Shigure mumbled drowsily.

"Huh?"

"It kind of gives the family a bad name," Shigure sighed, closing his eyes again.

"Huh?" Again.

A finger pointed at the leaflet he was holding up. Kyo took a closer look at it.

**PREVENTION OF CERVICAL CANCER**

**Primary Intervention : Are you protected?**

Kyo went pale. His hand shot out and he shook Shigure awake again. "Oi! Wake up!"

"Wh-aaaaat?" Shigure whined, draping an arm over his head. "Can't a man sleep in peace?"

"Read it. Read it again!" Kyo shoved the pamphlet in his face. The poor man, still disoriented with the remnant of drug-induced sleep, recoiled.

"What are you doing?" He cried, his hand flailing about. "That tickles!"

"Read it!" Kyo was glowering now. "Shigure, I want you to freaking read it! Out loud, right now!"

Shigure only blinked languidly in confusion. "Ngaa-?"

Kyo grabbed the back of his neck and forced him to look at it. "Read."

"What's the matter with you, Kyo-kun?" Shigure frowned, but he grabbed the leaflet anyway. He squinted.

"Prevention of cervical cancer. Primary Intervention : Are you protected?" Shigure read out loud. Flawlessly.

He held his palm outward in a questioning motion. "What's the deal? It was a good-morning joke. What, you can't take a joke now?" Shigure tsk-tsked.

Kyo was dumbstruck. Shigure could read. Does that mean he can also-?

Kyo dashed out of the room, grabbed a pen from the counter at the nurses' station and made it back to Shigure's bedside in record time. He slammed it on the table, along with the notepad from the side table.

"Write something. Anything."

"Kyo, what's going on?" Shigure was still not fully awake. And right now Kyo was disturbing his sleep.

It took all Kyo had to keep from wringing his cousin's neck like a wet towel.

"You heard me, you dumbass! Now write!"

Shigure winced. Getting yelled at, especially by Kyo first thing in the morning was not very pleasant. "Shesh, Kyo-kun, you're so loud! You could wake the dead!"

Kyo just bared his teeth.

Pretending not to see, Shigure picked up the pen and started to write. Normally. Kyo watched, entranced, as his cousin's wrist flick up and down in a fluid motion as he wrote something in the beautiful cursive he usually reserved for signing autographs.

As the last traces of sleep vanished from his eyes...

**_'Sohma Kyo is a cross-dressing, leek-hating, bear-fighting gir-'_** His hand froze.

"I'll be damned..." he whispered.

Kyo grabbed the pamphlet from his still fingers and nearly poked his eye out as he tried to make the words out. His mouth worked, but no words came out.

"Kyo..." His voice was filled with awe.

"I can't believe this," Kyo said finally, swallowing hard. "Last night...were you-were you just-" His eyes were misty as he gaped at Shigure.

His cousin shook his head from side to side slowly. He still looked stunned. "I wasn't...it was real!"

Shigure raised his hands and stared at his palms. "Last night...it was really...gone..." He searched Kyo's face for confirmation, that it was really happening, that this wasn't just a dream-

The red-haired cat broke into the biggest grin he had ever seen.

"Shigure, you bastard!" But he was smiling, he was so smiling so widely his lips could snap. Then he started roaring; a crazy, manic, relieved laughter-

Still staring at his palms, Shigure fell backward onto the mattress, his longish hair stark black against the white of his pillow as it fanned out, framing his face like a halo-

I can't believe it.

Hatori had just stepped out the elevator at the other end of the hallway when he heard Kyo shout.

"You lucky bastard!"

He started to run.

* * *

He was being discharged today. He had been issued a clean bill of health, despite the earlier scare; all his sensory and motor functions intact much to everyone's relief. Apparently last night was just a minor after-effect, temporary but it was enough to strike that note of fear in anyone.

It was a miracle.

Even Dr Tachibana had been a wee bit teary when he signed a special autograph for him; his rapid recovery had been beyond everyone's expectations.

Shigure hummed happily as Hatori pushed his wheelchair down the corridor. He didn't really mind. Hospital policy. In fact, he quite enjoyed making people work.

"Ne, ne, Ha-san! Take the longer route! Go round the west wing! Then we can take the elevator uptwo levels and we can go down to the parking lot using the disabled ramp! It'll be fun!"

A vein popped on Hatori's forehead. "I don't know you. I don't know you. I don't know you," he chanted droidly.

Shigure just gave him a sunny smile. "Please? I need to stop by the gift shop."

"Whatever for?"

"I want to buy a get-well card."

"You made friends while you were here?" Hatori frowned.

"No, silly. I'm buying it for myself."

The Dragon sweat-dropped.

"Since you're the only one who showed up on the day of my release, I'm feeling a little bit unloved. So I'm getting myself a card. And maybe some flowers too!"

"Of all the things you could have lost from sticking your head into the oven, you couldn't get rid of that God-awful sense of humour."

"I try." A gentle smile. Looks like his effort to cheer Ha-san up worked.

A long pause.

"Ayame's going to have a fit."

"You were worried about that?"

Hatori was silent.

Shigure sighed and leaned his head back as far as he could without bumping into Hatori's stomach. "Do we even need to tell him?"

Hatori snorted. "I don't know how we can even keep it from him. All he needs to do is ask one of the servants at the Main House and he'll find out about everything."

Shigure looked worried. "How in the world did they find out?"

"You got me running in and out of the house every few hours, driving the kids back and forth from your house to the hospital-of course it raised suspicion."

"Sorry."

"You should be," Hatori retorted. "You nearly drove everyone insane. Freaking us all out like that."

"Really, Ha-san, I didn't know you cared," Shigure teased, patting one of the hands on the handle at his shoulder. "Aww..."

"I don't," he replied sourly.

The dog spirit's smile faltered. "How's Yuki?"

At a turn, Hatori swerved to the right. They were going through the west wing after all.

"Haven't seen him since yesterday."

"But he knows-" Shigure tilted his head upward to look at his cousin. "He knows that I'm...alright. Right?"

"I'm sure Honda-kun would have told him," Hatori answered vaguely.

Shigure only nodded.

"He stayed with you the whole night."

"Hmm?"

"In case you were wondering why he didn't come visit. That first night we brought you in. He stayed."

"I know." A wistful smile.

"You do?" Hatori stopped in front of the elevator and stared down at the top of Shigure's head.

The Dragon shook his head. "You're lying. You were still out cold when I took him home the next morning."

Shigure shrugged. "You know what they say. You can always smell a rat."

Hatori blinked. That would have been funny, if it hadn't been the complete truth.

"What are you planning to do now?"

Shigure stared dead ahead. "We'll just worry about it when the time comes."

"Okay." The elevator door opened and silently, Hatori pushed him in, resuming their little stroll; final destination: the parking lot.

"There's a surprise waiting for you at home."

A cry of delight. "A surprise? For me? What is it? Tell me, tell me!"

"There's a reason why it's called a surprise, Shigure."

"Naa, Ha-san, tell me now! I need to kn-" The elevator door closed.

* * *

"How does this thing work anyway? There isn't any fire!"

"How is Tohru-kun going to cook if there's no fire?"

"Her wrist is still broken, remember? She still can't cook anyway so why worry about it now?"

"Why did Ha-san get it even when he knew it doesn't work?"

"Anou...maybe it's a foreign-made stove!" Tohru chirped. "We should take a look at the manual!"

"Where is the manual?"

A nervous laughter. "I think I left it out in the rain last night...it's all wet and soggy right now..."

"Kyo-kun!"

"What are you doing, sitting here by yourself?" He jerked, startled. Someone had crept up from behind. A voice, dry and void of emotion.

Yuki saw a flash of white, and the next thing he knew, a pair of long, slack-covered legs was hanging down the edge of the porch next to his.

"Why aren't you inside?" Hatori was not even making an effort to sound curious.

Yuki didn't trust himself to speak. He made do with a shrug.

He could hear everyone chattering and bantering away happily from inside the house, but the huge lump weighing down his heart was only allowing him misery. That waswhat he deserved, after all.

Hatori gazed off into the distant; the blue sky cloudless, crystal clear. Like the ocean.

"A nice day like this, no one should be lonely, let alone miserable."

Yuki brought his legs up to his chest and propped his chin against the bony prominence of his knees, his arms wrapped around himself. He looked small, scared...young.

"Am I...going back to the Main House?" He asked finally, the quivering timbre of his voice the only indication of the pain raging in his soul. He guessed that was why Hatori wanted to talk to him. Why else?

Hatori inhaled deeply. He knew this was coming. But he would have expected Kyo to bring it up though; not Yuki. He treaded the subject carefully, choosing his words as wisely as he could.

"That depends." He knew what Yuki had had to go through as a child. He couldn't imagine Yuki wanting to go back, to the same old prison, to that same old room. Not when he had finally freed himself. Too many people had sacrificed too much already. Hatori was not going to let Yuki destroy his future just because of a bad stroke of luck.

"Do you want to go back?"

A deep veil of sadness fell over the boy's face, casting clouds over the contours of his pale, blotchy cheeks.

Somehow, Hatori already knew the answer to that. He took another deep breath.

"I'm not supposed to tell you this." A pause, to ensure that Yuki understood fully what those words meant. Yuki's face instantly became a hard mask of concentration.

"That night at the hospital, before he went to sleep...he said something to me." Hatori clasped his hands in his lap. His eyes were far away. "He told me that if he couldn't get better-"

A deep breath.

"If he couldn't recover...he wanted me to erase your memories."

Yuki's rocking form stilled.

"He wanted me to make you forget...that you caused the accident. That you were the one who did it to him."

Yuki suddenly found himself unable to breathe.

A strong, warm hand reached out to grab the back of his neck, and it stayed there, as if to will away the uncontrollable shaking of his body, as the true meaning of Hatori's words dawned on him.

"That's how much he loves you." Yuki's eyes filled instantly with tears.

Hatori had turned his head fully to the side now, his gaze gentle, soft. There was no malice at all. "That's how much he wants you to stay."

Hatori kept staring at the empty spot next to him even after Yuki had leaped to his feet, and run inside.

Slowly, so very slowly, his lips curled at the edges, turning into a wistful, contented smile.

Ah. He sniffed deeply.

Love is in the air.

It definitely is.

* * *

They were still admiring the new electric stove in the kitchen when they suddenly felt a new presence at the door. Kyo's eyes instantly narrowed, suspicious. Tohru uncertainly glanced at Shigure and the door back and forth.

Shigure started to turn around to see, but before he could, whoever it was had thrown himself at him, knocking the wind out of him-He uttered a gasp, but the arms wrapped around his waist tightened even more. In shock, he reeled a few steps back, knocking his back against the edge of the sink.

But nothing surprised him more than the sudden trickle of something wet and warm on his chest.

Shigure drew in a shaky breath. Very slowly, he raised a hand, and rested it on the back of the boy's head. He caressed the silver hair awkwardly at first, but when the silent sobs showed no sign of subsiding, his other hand started to rub comforting circles on Yuki's quivering back.

Kyo and Tohru just looked on with amazement.

This is unbelievable. Kyo refused to even blink; for fear of the mirage in front of him collapsing before his eyes. Am I actually seeing this? Yuki...crying? He had thought that was beyond impossible.

Yuki-kun...Huge droplets of tears were forming in Tohru's own eyes, and they were threatening to spill any minute. She had never seen anything so beautiful in her life.

Yuki buried his face deeper into the warmth of Shigure's torso, the sheer exhaustion and pain and worry and despair from these past few days finally taking a toll on him; here he was, having a total breakdown, in front of absolutely everyone. And he was surprised to find that...he didn't even care.

Shigure was alive. And well.

That was all that mattered.

"Yuki-kun." The treble of Shigure's voice rumbled deep within his chest, husky and gentle. "There you are."

And that very second he knew; everything was forgiven.

Yuki's heart soared like it had never soared before.

"Welcome back." His mumble was muffled by the shirt, now wet with drying tears, but Shigure heard it anyway.

"Good to be home, Yuki. Good to be home."

**THE END**

Ha-kun (Hatsuharu) Hi-kun (Hiro) 'Sa-chan (Kisa) Rit-chan (Ritsu) Kagu-chan (Kagura, of course!) Momichi (Momiji, but I find it funny how Shigure always calls him Momichi instead, he's so adorable!)

**Author's notes:**

(Damn. Why the heck are **MY **eyes tearing up? Spoken like a true narcissist, gomen!)

There it is. The fic's done. Fin. I wrote the entire chapter with the song 'Kizuna' by Orange Range put on rewind, a song whichI personally think complements this story perfectly; right down to the very last note.

I apologize for not doing much more, I know some of you were hoping for at least _some_ Ayame, or maybe even Akito...but those two, I don't really quite understand them well enough yet to try to bring them into the picture. A mention here, a mention there...but I know the story would have been so much better if I could only integrate the significance of their presence in the Furuba world into the story. My bad.

I hope you've all enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I look forward to more of your wonderful comments and constructive criticism that had kept me going this past month. Thank youfor your never-ending support!

Signing off,

**_Shigure's No 1 Die-hard Fan._**


End file.
